Party In A Box
by Gingerrogersforever
Summary: Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital bc of Josh, a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revengeeven murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart bc of old heartbreaks. R&R!
1. Maple Syrup

16

CHAPTER ONE

"MAPLE SYRUP"

"_DDDDDDDDDDDDDDRAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKE!" screamed a voice in a slightly comical shriek, as you heard the sounds of running on the stairs: "DRAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!" _

Drake Parker, who was sitting in his bedroom upstairs practicing on his polished electric guitar, hit a sour note when he heard his step-brother screaming his name to the top of his lungs. Rolling his eyes, he set down the instrument and turned around, looking over the couch at the doorway.

"Drake, Drake, Drake, Drake, DRRRAKKKE!" Josh screeched, sliding into the room, breathless.

"…Yes?" his brother asked, shrugging and staring at the harried teenager with a raised eyebrow.

"DRAKE!"

"I said 'Yes?' already! Why are you screaming like crazy? Did Meghan stuff fire crackers in your back-pockets again, when you weren't looking?" he asked in reference to their more-than-mischievous little sister, cocking his head to the side with a little nod, as his brown eyes sparkled with confusion.

"No!" Josh said, throwing up his hands.

"Then what is it?"

"IT'S—IT'S," he stuttered.

"It's what?!" Drake said, impatiently motioning with his hands.

"IT'S… umm…"

"Yeees?!" came the eager reply.

"…Um… man, I forgot." Josh sighed, at last staring hard into space.

"Josh! Think of it! You can't just rush up here screaming and then not tell me why!" Drake moaned, grabbing his guitar and standing up, climbing the steel-tubing ladder to his bed.

"I can't think of it!" he whined, sorrowfully.

"...Oh! Hold on. I'm pretty sure I know what it was!" the brunette suddenly exclaimed.

"What? You do?"

"Maybe... Come here!" Drake said, looking from side to side as if he knew a secret.

The light eyed brother frowned out of curiosity and walked slowly over to the ladder of the bed.

Without any warning, Drake grabbed up a pillow from his bed and smacked Josh in the head.

"OUCH!" the wounded of the two gasped, backing away.

"There," Drake said, with a pleasant smile as he put down the pillow and smoothed it neatly: "That should clear up any blockage."

"Blockage?" his brother asked, with a twinge of offended anger.

He only answered by pointing to his head: "In… there."

Josh glared and rubbed his "offending" head for a minute as the slim boy went back to messing with a few chords on his guitar.

Other than that, the room was silent for a long time.

"Hey!" Josh suddenly cried out, grabbing the neck of Drake guitar, making a chime of wrong notes.

"_Gah!! _What?!" Drake said, plugging his ear with one hand and plucking Josh's hand off of his guitar with the other.

"I remember what it was!!!"

Drake said nothing but motioned with his hand for the answer and raised his eyebrows.

"Listen, Meredith Benton is giving this party on Saturday and she wants us to come! It's supposed to be HUGE! And this is the thing: after the party everybody's going to the Katherine McGin concert!!!" Josh exclaimed.

Drake's mouth hung open as he jumped down from his perch to face the boy: "Kathy McGin?! _The_ Kathy McGin – best rock singer of all time?!"

"That's what I saaaid!" Josh grinned, crossing his arms.

"Woah! That is beyond cool. And Meredith Benton?! Wait! You _did_ say Meredith Benton is giving this party?!"

"Sure did!"

"Oh, dude, she is like one of the absolutely coolest, smartest, cutest girls in the whole high-school!" Drake sighed, shaking his head happily.

Josh's mouth fell open: "GIRLS! Are they all you think about—Girls?!"

"Weeeeeeeell," Drake thought about it: "…Yep."

"Well what about ME! I _am_ your brother, ya' know! I mean, what happened to the good, old fashioned 'have fun with your brother' thing?" he said.

"Well, let's see… I would hang out with you more, if you weren't so weird. But anyway, you don't wear skirts and you don't giggle and you don't think I'm cute." Drake answered.

"THANKFULLY!" Josh said, wrinkling his brows and staring at Drake.

"Boys!" their Mother's voice cut in to the arguement, calling from downstairs: "Come down here! There's a package for you!"

Drake & Josh looked at each other as they headed into the hall and down the stairs. "Package?" Josh mused, almost to himself. "Paaaackage!" Drake nodded quickly, racing down the stairs ahead of his brother.

They both ran into the living room and met their Mom standing behind an extremely large, plywood box.

"What... Is it?!" Drake asked, raising an eyebrow confusedly.

"I dunno, the UPS man just delivered it. It doesn't have a return address." their pretty, middle aged mother replied.

"Like you would want to bother trying to return something _that huge..."_ Josh remarked, still in shock about the size of the 'package'.

"Maybe it's from your Great Aunt Nina. She always send something interesting. But_--_" Audrey was interrupted by the phone: "Oh! That's your dad. He was talking to me and he was supposed to call me back. Why don't you two open the box and see what it is!" she finished, walking into the kitchen.

Josh slowly approached the box, knocked on it and put an ear to it. "... No cats this time."

Drake shook his head with a chuckle: "Yeah, remember when she sent us that gigantic ant farm and you accidentally knocked it over?" He started laughing hard. "Yes." Josh said, somberly, crossing his arms.

"And_-- _and_--_" Drake spoke through his laughter: "Then they crawled up your shirt and you started dancing all over the dining room!"

"I do not find that little story very humorous, you... you... CACKLE-R!" Josh retorted.

Drake shrugged and looked back at the box. "...Should we open it or not?" "...I don't know. If it's from Great Aunt Nina... Eheee_eeeeh_." he shuddered back.

While they were still in deliberation, the kitchen door swung open on its swiveling hinges.

"Boys, I have to go meet your Dad at Meghan's school. I should be back in an hour or something." Drake's Mom said, coming through the door and across the space to put on her coat.

"Oooo, did she eh_-- do_ something?" Josh chuckled haughtily.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think so_--_Meghan is always such an angel."

The boys cast doubtful looks to each other, as she went on:

"But I'll be back soon. Be good, now. Bye!" she smiled, locking the open front door and closing it behind her, as she went out.

"Well... do the honors, Drakie?" Josh asked, waving toward the box, a long moment later.

"...Sure, but_--_ _don't_ call me that." he smirked slightly, walking to the huge wood square. He spotted a note attached to the crate and ripped and pulled off the envelope to read it.

"Woah, wait a minute!" Drake said, grabbing Josh's arm: "Josh, look at this!" Josh looked over his brother's shoulder at the plain white paper.

**Walter**_--_

**This is what you sent for. **

**Hope you have a good place to hide it**_--_

**police have been searching for it ever**

**since I heard you wanted it.**

**Keep the front up. **

_--_** Landis**

"What the_--_?!" Josh asked, taking the paper from Drake and reading it aloud.

"It must be for Dad." Drake said, frowning and biting his lip.

"What does this mean about the police?" Josh asked, setting the paper on the box.

"I don't know. But it doesn't sound so good." all the jest and cheerful teasing was gone from his tone. "...I wonder what's in it."

"I dunno, but we can't open Dad's box! It would be _so bad _if he found out!" Josh said.

"Exactly why I plan to do it _carefully_." the boy replied, as a faint (and even slightly evil) smile crossed his face.

"…Carefullyyy…" Josh nodded, raising his brows.

"Yeah, okay_--_ now, help me turn this thing over." Drake said, at last. Josh agreed and tried to lift his side but he couldn't get it far at all.

"Gah, what is IN THIS THING?" Drake exclaimed, sitting it back down.

Josh gasped and stepped away from it suddenly: "What if… what if there's a… dead guy in there?"

"Yeah, Josh. A dead guy just shipped to _our house_… in a plywood box." he crossed his arms and looked up critically at his brother.

"No but seriously, what if we open it up and this dead guy rolls out with his eyes like this:" Josh rolled his eyes back in his head and walked a little toward his counterpart.

"O-okay, that's just weird…" Drake said hastily, taking a step back and shaking his head at him.

They both where silent for a minute and then suddenly Drake exclaimed: "Wait a second, Josh! What about when Dad comes home? What will he do?"

"Weeeell, I'm sure he'll put on the parking brake, get out of his car, come to the front door, unlock it, and come inside." Josh said, practically.

Drake sighed and narrowed his eyes: "That's _not_ what I mean. He can't find out that this box is here if it has something to do with the police! We gott'a get it out of here."

"But how? We couldn't even budge it an inch a few minutes ago!" Josh argued, frowning deeply.

"I know. But… but we just have to put all our strength into it and AT LEAST be able to push it out to the garage. Now come on and help me with it_--_there's no way I can move this at all with out your help."

Josh smiled at his brother's last kind sentence and sighed an "okay", before they both put their backs in to it.

Ten minutes went by and Drake & Josh had barely gotten it to the hall. "Drake, we'll NEVER get this thing to the garage! Mom and Dad will be home soon and they'll catch us!"

"Shut up & push, Josh."

"But, Drake, I_--_"

"PUSH!"

"I'm pushin'!" Josh yelped in a shrill whine, giving up fighting with him.

Finally after five more minutes, they got it in to the far corner of the garage. "Whew. That was tough." Drake panted, wiping his brow and straightening his shirt.

Suddenly they heard the hum of the family car's motor as it pulled up the long driveway, just outside the closed garage door.

"Uh oh! Dad & Mom!" he gasped.

"I have a feeling this is gonn'a be _tougher!"_ exclaimed Josh, grabbing Drake & yanking him inside the house.

They ran down the hall with all their energy left, and jumped over the couch, landing on it. Drake jerked up the remote and quickly turned on the tv, just as the doorknob began to jiggle: "Act natural!"

"Hi, boys! We're home." Audrey said, walking in along with Walter & Meghan.

"H-hi Mom!" Drake grinned, looking over at her.

"Hey. …Okay, I know this might be a strange thing to ask," she slowly spoke, after turning and surveying them: "But Drake, Josh_--_ why are you two sweating so much?"

"Yeah_--_ you guys look like you've been running under the sprinkler with your clothes on." Walter chuckled, setting down the car keys on the dining table.

"Oh, well, " Josh began to stutter, shooting a desperate glance at his brother (he knew Drake was always a more creative liar than he was).

He got the message and it took him only a moment to spit out his own falsehood, taking over.

"Well uh, the… the show we where watching was just so… suspenseful! We started sweating! _Didn't we, Josh?_" he nudged him and spoke his name through gritted teeth.

"Ye_--_yeah! It was really, really… _suspenseful!"_ Josh agreed, quickly.

Audrey looked skeptically at the tv: "…Home and Garden Television was suspenseful?"

"Ahh_--_ it was just..." now it was Drake's turn to give a desperate look.

"...The flowers! Yeah, Umm…" he began to nod seriously and make it up as he went: "They were so _beautiful_ that when the bugs where trying to eat them… it was uh_--_"

Audrey interrupted Drake: "Suspenseful."

"Uh, yeah mom! You should'a seen this one huuuge bug! It was so suspen_--_oow!"

Drake's elbow interrupted Josh, poking him with great force.

"So_--_ so what was wrong at your school, Meghan?" Josh knew it would be better to change the subject and he and his brother got up from the couch.

"Yeah, what was up?" Drake replied, with a simple nod, trying to control his jitteriness.

Meghan narrowed her eyes and came up close to Drake, shaking a finger at his face: "You'll pay for that comment."

She slunk off, out of the room, glaring back at him, and he returned with a confused look on his face: "O_kay_. So, Mom & Dad, what _did_ happen? Why did you two have to go up there?"

"Seems Meghan has been getting bad grades and not telling us because she hasn't done her homework or studying lately." Walter said.

"Mmm. I see." Josh said, nodding thoughtfully: "The infantile minds of our youth, these days…"

Drake raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Perhaps we'll tell you all about it later, boys, but I think it's time to make dinner. Walter, come help me out." Audrey said smiling, and turning to drag him into the kitchen.

A moment after the two grown people disappeared, Drake began to laugh: "…Whooooah, is Meghan in trouble!"

"Trou-_ble!" _Josh nodded, with a little chuckle of his own.

"I wonder what they'll do to her at school."

"I dunno but it cain't be good, brother!" Josh said with a snort.

The boys discussed Meghan's trouble a minute or two more, but something made them stop.

"Hey, Boys, have you seen my wrench? Your mother's blender is broken again." Walter said, walking back in.

"Umm, I don't think so dad." Josh said.

"Oh, you know what? I think I left it in the garage! Let me just go get it." their father said, remembering and turning at once to complete his job.

"AHH! NO!" Drake shouted, running in front of the door. "I—I mean, um… _we'll _ get it _for you, _Dad. Heheh!" he added a forced chuckle and grabbed Josh, pulling him through the door: "Be _right _back."

Behind the closed garage door, Drake put a hand to his heart: "Gosh. That was way, way too close. Now, quick, you look for Dad's wrench and I'll find something to cover up the crate with just incase he tries to come in here."

"Drake! Hello? Dad always has to look for his wrench for like three hours! We'll _never_ find it!"

"…And that's why I'm entrusting the "_special mission_" to you." Drake said, reaching down and spreading a tarp over the crate, carefully.

"Uh! I always get the dirty jobs, don't I?" Josh remarked, shaking his head tiredly.

"Hey, as long as he didn't put it in the garbage like he did last time, there's nothing "dirty" about it, bro." his brother teased.

"Boys, have you found it yet?" Walter said, peeking his head in the door and making them both jerk in surprise.

"Uh, yeah Dad! Here!" Drake exclaimed, quickly giving him something and pushing him out of the room, closing the door on him.

Drake shook his head and blew out a breath: "We gott'a keep him out of here ...and make sure to tell Mom that the box was just another present from 'Auntie, at dinner. That way she won't ask us where it is."

Suddenly the door opened again, almost bumping in to the thin brunette.

"Umm, Drake, this is a _hammer!_" Walter explained, handing him the tool.

"Uhh_--_so?! It's still a tool! Here, take it_--_ it's my present for you!" Drake said, giving him back the hammer and shoving him out of the garage, slamming the door.

"I found it!" Josh exclaimed, pulling it out of a bucket on the self.

"Good! Just in time!" Drake sighed, grabbing it from his brother and opening the door, trying to walk casually into the kitchen, with Josh close in tow.

"Here, Dad." he said with an un-natural grin, as he handed it to him.

"Umm… is anything wrong? 'Cause you guys are acting pretty peculiar." came the slow question from their Father's lips.

"Uh_--_"

Josh cut off Drake: "No, no, no, Dad! Everything is A-ooo-_kay! …_Umm… Drake, we need to do something upstairs. _Don't we?_"

"Huh?_--_"

"Up-_stairs!_" Josh replied forcefully, pushing his step-brother toward the hall and turning around to look at his parents just long enough to let out a nervous little laugh before shoving Drake further.

Once in their room, he collapsed on the couch and closed his eyes.

"Dude, what's your deal? Interrupting me, dragging me all the way up here … putting your filthy 'Josh' germs all over _my_ couch!" Drake exclaimed with a tiny shudder.

"Drake! You where like _way_ too obvious, man. You almost gave us away down there!" he returned in reply.

"What? I was not!" Drake argued, indignantly.

"Oh, yeah? _--_Look at me! I'm Drake! What Mom, Dad? Wrong? NOOOOOOO, NO, NO. Nothing is wrong here! There are _no __**mysterious, police-associated boxes in the garage**__!"_ Josh imitated loudly.

Drake shrugged: "Okay, whatever. Let's just not fight about this, 'cause we can't afford to. We just have to remain calm, cool & concentrated."

"…We have to act like juice drinks?"

Drake grabbed the couch pillow and repeated his earlier action of smacking Josh in the head, quickly.

"Ouch!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Meeeghan," Drake said in a sing-song voice, as he, Meghan and Josh sat downstairs in the family room: "Oooo! Sooomebody didn't do their homework!"

"Yeah, Meghan. Did they say what they were going to do to you at school or did they save it as a _surprise?_" Josh teased.

"Okay, are you just _asking _to find yourself tied up in the back of the mail truck tomorrow morning?" she said, looking at them in a glaring way.

"No, but were you just _asking _to be grounded when you didn't do you're homework?" Drake mocked.

"Hey, if you don't be quiet, boob, I'm gonn'a actually get mad." she hissed.

"Don't call me names. It's not nice. Oops, but I forgot_--_ getting low grades on purpose isn't very nice either, is it?" the brown eyed boy laughed.

"Whoo, good one, brotha." Josh said, giving Drake a high-five, over her head.

"Listen to **me** and learn well." she roared: "The next one who says anything to me at ALL is going to _deeply _regret it. And 'deeply' to the point of trying to scratch his way out of a potato sack headed down the nearest river."

Drake & Josh stood up and backed away, up the stairs. They went out on to the tiny balcony on the back of the house and sat in some lawn chairs.

"Man… Meghan is really mad." Josh said: "_M-ad!_"

"Yeah, I know. I bet she'll do something to us tonight." Drake shuddered, shaking his head.

"Hey, that's right! We'd better be extra careful." Josh said, leaning over the rail and adding: "Because I'm claustrophobic, and a potato sack would definitely give me some breathing difficulties."

"Yeah uh, I would start being careful by _not_ leaning over that rail like that." Drake responded slowly, raising an eyebrow and looking on at him.

Josh backed away from it and nodded: "…Good idea."

Suddenly the two could hear their phone ringing not far away, up in their room, and they exchanged looks.

"Beat ya' upstairs!" Drake exclaimed, jumping out of his chair and running into the hall.

"Waiiiiit!" the other shouted, running out toward him.

Drake rush nimbly in to his room and picked up the phone with a breathless: "Hello?"

"Hey, Dwake, this is Wyn." A girl's voice spoke over the line.

"Oh. …Hi." he said in a slightly dismayed voice.

Suddenly Drake heard a sliding sound and a slightly muffled shriek, as _something _bump-bump-bumped down the stairs at top speed.

"What was that?" Lyn asked.

"Just my brother. He has some… problems."

"I'm okay!" Josh shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh. Umm, wook, we weawwy have to do that school pwoject. I weawwy don't want to annoy you or anything, it's just that I wondewed when we were going to get togethew and do it. It _is _due in two weeks." Lyn said, in a whiney voice.

"Look, uh Lyn, I've got a lot on my mind right now. I'll have to give you a call later." the reply came, and with a grimace, he hung up.

Josh burst in the door and shook himself off.

"Josh… what where you _doing? _I was on the phone and there you are, down there screaming, and_--_and clunking and _whatnot!_" Drake exclaimed.

"I fell! But who where you on the phone with anyway? One of your '_giiiirl-friends_'?" his friend mocked with a mischievous sneer.

"No! It—it was just that 'Lyn' girl." Drake said, rolling his eyes and laying down on the sill-type edge of his bed.

"Oh. Who is she_--_ one of your newest conquests?" Josh asked.

"No. She's just this girl at school. I never really talked to her—she's all ditzy and everything. So, anyway, our teacher picked us to do this project together and I'm **so** not thrilled." Drake said, sitting up and crossing his arms.

"She sounds nice! Tell me," Josh said, with a taunting smile as he sat beside his brother: "Is she pretty?"

"…Well, gee I don't know, Josh, I haven't noticed anything else but the way she talks!" Drake said, shrugging.

"Drake, I don't want to sound… 'annoying-my-step-brother…ish' but, maybe do you _like_ her a little bit?"

At this, he burst out: "WHAT? LIKE HER? JOSH! Are you _kidding?_ Yeah, let me see_--_ can you imagine trying to be romantic with a girl that looks deeply in your eyes, and says" Drake clasped his hands together over his chest and batted his eyelashes like a girl: "'Oh, Dwake,_ I wove you_!'"

Josh broke in to laughter and turned, jumping off of the bed: "Dude, you look like you're in for some annoyance with

that girl. ...Annoyance!"

"I know." his brother sighed, laying down on the bed.

All of the sudden, a hollow tapping sound was heard, coming from the inside of their closet.

Drake instantly sat up, looking in that direction, as did Josh. It was certainly coming straight from behind of the closed door.

Drake frowned with large eyes and looked at his brother, in confusion.

"…IT'S… THE DEAD GUY IN THE BOX HAUNTING US!" Josh gasped, hiding behind his brother as he jumped to the ground, and exclaiming in a squeak: "_DEAD guy_!!!"

"Look, I don't know what it is, but it's not a _dead guy._ Let's _see what it is._" he said thoughtfully, rolling his eyes.

He paused for a second and then began walking toward the closet.

"You're not going to_--open it, _are you?!" Josh gasped, as the tapping resumed.

"…Yes, hence my reply: 'Let's see what it is', Josh." Drake nodded, reaching his hand toward the door knob.

Josh quickly ran across the room and stood behind his step-brother with a frightened grimace: "…Let's do it!"

Drake took a deep breath and he felt his heart skip when he heard the banging smash once more.

"I_--_I_--_YOU do it!" Drake said, closing his eyes and getting behind Josh.

"Hey! Waiiiiit! You said_--_!" Josh said, pushing his brother forward.

Drake shook his head: "Wait, okay, it can't be anything. It's probably just... just... the air conditioner or something. Let's just both do it together. Ready?"

Josh stood beside him and put his hand over Drake's on the knob.

"One, two… THREE!"

They ripped open the door and the two where faced with pitch black darkness. "Josh, you reach in and turn on the light!" Drake hissed, in a slightly cowering voice.

"Okay…" he whined.

After a fraction of a second, he reached in and flicked on the light, jerking his arm out of the closet.

Nothing was there.

The brothers frowned, confusedly and began to laugh amongst themselves, remembering the gruesome scenes they had imagined they would meet.

"That was funny." Drake giggled: "Why were we scared? Yeah, like something would be in our closet!"

"Yeah, I know! But look," Josh laughed, grabbing Drake's hand and walking into the closet with him: "Soo scary, ri_--_"

_Smack._

"Ahh!" Drake's voice was heard from inside the tiny room.

"MEEEEHGAAAAAN!!!" both boys screamed simultaneously.

A struggle was heard for a moment, before both of them tumbled out of the closet, covered in maple syrup from head to toe.

"MEGHAN!" they both screamed again.

"This. Is the start. Of a WAR." Josh exclaimed, in a very deep, agitated voice.

"Look!" Drake said, pulling a tape recorder out of the closet & playing it back.

The knocking sound played back from the recorder.

"She recorded this and must have put it and the buckets of syrup and trip wire in here while we were on the porch!" Drake growled.

They wiped the horrible sticky stuff from their faces and paused in quiet thought.

"I guess if we told Mom and Dad, they'd make us get psychological examinations..." Drake's murmur was heard.

"Dude, I dibs the shower!" Josh randomly exclaimed.

"NO WAY!" his brother gasped.

Josh stared at him for a minute, and then jerked in to a sprint toward their bathroom.

Drake took a running leap, jumped over the couch and tackled Josh to the floor, grabbing a pile of clothing from the bureau and rushing in the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

As Josh heard the shower start, he closed his eyes and wiped maple syrup from his forehead: "…Ouch."

About fifteen minutes later, Drake emerged from the room, completely fresh, in un-sticky clothes.

Josh stood up from the floor and glared at him with a down-turned mouth.

Drake looked him up and down, pointing to the syrup dripping from his hair.

"You're… dirty."

"I KNOW." he hollered into Drake face, ducking into the bathroom and slamming the door.

Drake shrugged and avoided the puddle of brown sugary goop on the floor as he made his way to the couch.

He sat there for a second and then deciding to watch TV, he reached for the remote which had been on the couch beside him that morning.

It wasn't there. He sighed in an annoyed tone, getting up and walking to the bathroom door.

"Josh!" he screamed through the door.

"Huh?!" his brother exclaimed over the noise of the shower.

"Did you loose the remote again?" Drake yelled, crossing his arms.

"No! I haven't seen it all day." Josh replied, loudly.

"Ugh," Drake replied, walking to the couch.

"...I SAID I HAVEN'T SEEN IT ALL_--_-"

Drake rolled his eyes and shouted: "I heard ya' already, wacko!" as he threw aside a pillow, looking for the gadget.

He turned the whole room upside down looking for it until Josh came out in clean clothes, spick and span.

"Josh, I seriously can _not_ find the remote! It's like it disappeared into thin air! Like it's possessed!" Drake explained, rooting through a stack of papers to look for it.

Suddenly the two looked at each other: "Possessed?"

"..._Meghan!_" Josh exclaimed, snapping his fingers and glaring, with bent brows, into space.

"You think she'd bother with such a minor object?"

"Hmm. It would seem weird for her to take such a non-consequential little item." Josh said, scratching him head: "Did'ya look in the desk drawer?"

"Nope! You do that." Drake replied, lazily.

Josh laughed at his brother and walked to the drawer, yanking it open.

Before he could realize what was going on, a steady stream of toothpaste squirted erratically from the drawer into his face and shoulders.

As he wiped it from his eyes, Drake giggled & tried to keep from laughing in the corner: "She sure got you, didn't she?"

"…This makes me very, very… ENRAGED!" he shouted: "_Man! _ Now I'm gonn'a have to wash my face and put on some _more _clothes!"

"Yeah. Um, so is the remote in the drawer or not?" his brother said, uninterested in Josh's ramblings.

"…_No_." Josh fumed.

After standing there for a minute, he said: "Seriously, if I have to wash my face anymore, it's going to shrivel up like a huge prune!"

Drake grimaced and said: "Yeah, thank you for that disgusting mind-image."

He shook off his grossed-out look and stared in to space for a moment, as if an idea had just hit him. He snapped out of his gaze and finally jumped across the room, opening their door.

"Where ya' going, Drake?" Josh asked.

"To free the remote from the evils." he answered plainly, saluting Josh and ducking out of the room.

"Meghan," Drake began as he opened her door and raced into her room, "What have you done with our remote?"

"Why would _I_ have your remote?" she asked, shrugging.

"Okay fine, maybe you don't _have it,_ maybe you might have lost it in one of the **buckets of syrup **you rigged in our closet!" he replied, in an extremely agitated voice.

An evil smile slithered across Meghan's face: "I knew you'd fall for that." she rolled her eyes and mumbled: "Morons."

"Hey, and we didn't appreciate the toothpaste, either! You can just go off and 'toothpaste and 'syrup people! It's... bad!"

"…And?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Look, just give me the remote, okay?" he said.

"No _you_ look, Drake Parker. And _you_ GET OUT _of my room!_ **Now**. Don't forget that I have alott'a power." she exclaimed, in a low voice and with a smirk written in to her features.

"You mean your powers _of darkness?!_" Drake said back, in a very saucy tone.

Without another second going by, Meghan grabbed his arm and flipped him on to the bed in the middle of her room.

Josh had just finished cleaning up and changing his shirt when he heard the sounds of struggling coming from Meghan's room.

"GIVE_--_ME_--_THE_--_REMOTE_--_" Drake's voice roared in a muffled tone.

"NO_--_I_--_WON'T!"

Josh's eyes grew large and he murmured an: "Ahh, man!" as he hurried from their room into the hall and through his sister's door.

The sight that beheld him made him gasp in unbelief.

Drake had Meghan in a head-lock, leaning up against him while he sat on his knees on the floor.

"How_--_are you doing that?!" Josh called, uncertain how his brother had over-powered Meghan.

"I... dunno!" he shrugged, apparently breathless.

"You've head-locked the head-locker!" the darker haired teen exclaimed, beginning to laugh: "Where's a camera?-!"

"Let me go!" Meghan cried out in an innocent voice: "MOMMY! DADDY!"

Audrey & Walter came running up the stairs, and gasped deeply upon entering Meghan's room.

"_Drake!_ LET GO of her!" his father said in a shrill shout.

Drake's mouth fell open in an unbelieving gape and he let go of his sister, standing up slowly.

"Mommy!" Meghan sniffled, running to her mother.

"You poor, poor little girl! Drake, what is WRONG WITH YOU? You know better than to EVER_--_"

"I_--_She_--_she took me and Josh's remote!" he mustered at last, interrupting his mother.

"And so then you two decided to _attack _her?!" Walter asked.

"What? I didn't_--_" Josh began.

"Um_--_no! …Yes! _I mean--_" Drake was cut off by his father: "You're too old to do these thing! Look, you are both grounded, boys. For a week!"

Josh gasped: "I didn't do anything!"

"Uh-huh, grounded." Walter shook his head: "Now come on, out of her room!"

Drake and Josh (who were still under shock that they could be grounded because _Meghan _stole their remote) passed their sister slowly and she grinned malevolently at them.

In reply, they slumped their shoulders and walked on.


	2. Caught in Cuffs

CHAPTER TWO

"IN THE CUFFS"

"MAN! Drake growled, walking into their room behind his brother and slamming the door: "I can't believe Meghan is so evil! I just feel like someone should beat a little sense into her!" "Aw, Drake, it's okay! We're only grounded for a week, unable to go anywhere, and in the line of fire of Meghan's pranks! Noooo, there is _nothin' _to worry about!" Josh said, throwing up his hands: "And on a lighter note, no telling what Dad's gotten himself into with the police!! …POLICE!"

"Oh my gosh, I almost forgot about that!" Drake gasped. "YOU FORGOT THAT OUR FATHER MIGHT BE DOING SOMETHING ILLEGAL?!?!?! WAKE UP, DRAKE!" Josh shouted. "Hey!" his brother gasped. "What?" Josh asked. "Wake… Drake-- that rhymes!" Drake said, with a childish amusement written on his face.

Josh sighed and looked at Drake. After a moment, he walked to his bed, kicked off his shoes and turned off the light. "Goodnight!!" he yelled.

Drake stood, puzzled.

"…What?" Everything was completely still. "…Josh?" It was only silence. Drake finally exclaimed: "Hello?!" Suddenly a flying pillow smacked him in the head from across the room.

"…Oow."

"_Goodnight._" Josh growled.

After Josh had gone to sleep, Drake turned on the small desk lamp and sat down. He opened his laptop and signed on to the internet. He planned to only check his email box and then to get off, but suddenly an instant messenger window popped up.

**AnitaPrescott007: Drake!!**

Drake frowned in amazement. Anita was his girlfriend about a year ago, when another girl—a previous girlfriend named Amanda-- had begun stalking him, Nita had thought that he was dating Mandy behind her back and so she broke up with him.

Snapping back to reality, he quickly typed his message but had to back-space it and re-write it at least twice before sending it.

**TheDrakeanator05: Anita? Hey! What's up? How are you?!**

After a minute, an "AnitaPrescott007 is typing" sign popped up and finally the message appeared:

**AnitaPrescott007: Hey! I'm fine; I know it's been a while. I just had to get a hold of you! Are you going to the Kate McGin concert the day after tomorrow? I know you're a big fan of hers.**

**TheDrakeanator05: Yeah!! Don't tell me your going?**

**AnitaPrescott007: I sure am!**

**TheDrakeanator05: Dude, that is so awesome! Do you want to meet there?**

**AnitaPrescott007: Can we?**

**TheDrakeanator05: If you want to! I've like really missed you! I mean… if you'd like to see me, I think that would totally rock. It would be so cool to see you again!**

**AnitaPrescott007: I would love to see you! That sounds so fun! Are you free to meet up?**

Drake paused a moment of think of what to say and laughed to himself as he typed another message into the text box of the messenger program.

**TheDrakeanator05: Well, my brother Josh will be with me, but nobody else other than that so, yeah, I'm fine with it!**

Anita returned with a 'lol' and then the two planned where and at what exact time they'd meet in the huge San Diego concert dome, the day after next. They chatted for a long time about the concert and lots of other things. School, music, brothers, sisters and everything else. After all, they had a lot to catch up on, over the span of a year. By the time the chat came to a close, both had a happy feeling that replaced their old feeling of tension and uncertainty. It was like they were old friends again. Finally after a very long goodbye, Drake signed off the internet & closed his laptop, unplugging it.

Unplugging the laptop was a habit Drake had gotten into after Josh argued with him over and over about the "battery charging" light keeping him awake. The argument had lasted for about a week and finally Meghan settled it by cutting the cord to the laptop. Of course, Drake had to buy himself a new cord with his own money and Meghan didn't get into any bit of trouble.

As Drake put on his pjs and climbed up into his elevated bed, he laughed to himself after looking back at the day's happenings. "This life is so weird." He said aloud to himself with a laugh. "WHAT?!! WHAT IS IT DRAKE?" Josh gasped, waking up. Drake (who still had a smile scrawled across his face), picked up a sock from the ledge of his bed and threw it at his brother, hitting him in the face and turning over in the bed: "Go to sleep, Josh."

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Lights filtered through the windows of the brothers' room. Drake, who had been fighting it for a while, finally opened his eyes and sighed. He was actually happy for once. He yawned and became even happier when he suddenly realized it was a teacher's work day so there was no school today. Belleview High rarely had these and so now that they did have one day off, Drake decided before hand to relax and have some lazy fun today.

He sat up but was suddenly pulled back down to the bed. With a majorly confused look covering his face, he jerked around and looked behind him, with some difficulty. "Ah! MEGHAN!" he screamed to the top of his lungs. "Josh, wake up, dope!" Drake exclaimed, managing to kick the alarm clock off of the bed. It smacked the sleeping teenager and Josh sprung up from his bed with an "OWWWW!"

A silent moment reigned while he rubbed his head: "What the heck was that for?!"

"What do you think?" Drake yelled, struggling in his covers.

"Dude!" Josh exclaimed, jumping up on the ladder to the bed: "You're… handcuffed to the bed!!"

Drake raised his brow severely and look from the cuffs to his brother, he exclaimed: "_Ya' think?!_"

"Well how'd you get that way?" Josh asked. Both were quiet for a moment but then looked at each other and simultaneously muttered: "_Meghan_."

"You rang?" Meghan said, standing in the doorway with a slithery grin.

"Yes, _I rang_!" Drake snarled: "Get over here!"

"No. I don't have to." "What 'you talkin' about, _little girl?_" Josh mocked.

"Mom says I don't have to go near you if I don't want to." she scoffed.

"Well you came in here and handcuffed me to my bed!" Drake shouted.

"Yeah I did… but I wanted to come in, _then._" She said with an evil grin playing over her lips. "…See ya', boobs."

"HEY!" Drake screamed as she began to walk away.

"Yeah?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"Aren't you going to give me the key to these?!" he said.

"…Well… nope. Gott'a go. Deal with it. Bye." she said, running away form the door.

"UGH DARN MEGHAN!" Drake yelled after her.

"Nasty little demon child." Josh exclaimed, shaking a fist at the door.


	3. One Last Day

CHAPTER THREE

"ONE LAST DAY"

It was at least an hour before Drake and Josh managed to pry apart the metal cuffs with their Dad's pliers and by this time, Drake was so tired about thinking about the incident that he didn't even care to discuss the matter with his parents.

"_What would be the use? Megan would win like she always does, anyway._"

Drake told his brother this but Josh seemed determined to tell their parents.

"Josh," Drake argued: "They'll just think we made it up to get her in trouble. And then instead of grounded for a week, it'll be grounded for a month! Ya' want that?"

"No! But that won't happen! I'll just—"

"Josh! You're missing you're show!" Audrey called upstairs.

Josh gasped: "OPRAH!" and ran quicker than lightning out of the room.

Drake looked up just in time to see his brother streak out into the hall, and as he massaged his sore wrist, he heard Josh squeal: "Opppppppraaaah!" as he ran down the steps to their family room.

For once, Drake actually was happy Oprah was on, giving him an excuse to get out of the argument with his brother.

- -

Drake got on the internet for a little while, but once he finally signed on to instant messenger after 15 minutes, he saw that Anita wasn't on, and for some odd reason he quickly lost interest in the computer.

He got dressed in jeans and a black and blue colored tee shirt and went directly downstairs to relieve his growling stomach with a little snack. Other than playing the guitar, eating junk food was one his very favorite past-times.

Reaching the doorway to the kitchen, he slid inside the room with his socks, across the wood floor and he yanked the cabinet open.

"_Ahhh… candy. You remain fairer still…_"

Grabbing the sweets and cramming them down his throat, his mother exclaimed from the other room: "Candy or _breakfast_?!"

Drake bit into a gummy worm as he snorted: "Mom, you sound like a Reese's puffs cereal commercial." He was trying to change the subject, apparently.

"Mister PARKER." She yelled into the room.

Drake snatched up a bag of chocolate chips off of the counter and ran from the kitchen, to his room, so he wouldn't get killed for eating so much sugar.

"_But sugar is just so…_" Drake paused his thought long enough to toss a few chips into his mouth as he ran up the stairs, searching for the right description and finally settling on: "_Good._"

- -

Drake was extra glad that last night, after the Megan incident, his mother had decided to let he and Josh go to the Kathy McGin concert. She had said she was only letting them go because their friends had spent money on their tickets for them, but perhaps in her heart she felt a little sympathy for the two and felt like letting them go anyway. But to him, it was "so awesome", because as much as being grounded on a Teacher Work Day on _Friday_ sucked, it would have been way worse if he'd have had to miss Kathy McGin _and_ Anita on the same day.

Upstairs and once in he and his brother's room, the boy found Josh seated at the desk, writing on lined paper.

"What happened? Is _Op_-rah over?" Drake teased, walking a few steps toward him and grinning.

"…Yes." Josh glared back, prepared for mockery and slightly irritated at his brother's constant ridicule of his TV idol.

"Oh, that's right. You wouldn't move from in front of that tv when Op'ie was on, even if the house caught on fire."

"Well, it comes on again in two hours and I'm defiantly gonn'a be watchi—_OPIE_?!"

"Yeah." the brunette laughed, looking over at the papers on the desk that his brother seemed so obsessed with and ignoring the previous topic of conversation: "Hey, dude, what the heck are ya' doing?"

Josh looked over with a sarcastic gaze, as his step-brother shoveled chocolate into his mouth.

"It's called 'homework', but then again of course, who would expect you to know what _that_ is?"

"Hah." Drake scowled at his hazel eyed counterpart, walking back across the large room and sitting down on the plushy soft couch.

"Ahhh… Good chocolate, good couch, good TV," he said, trying to turn it on: "Good… reflection?"

The tv did nothing and he was staring at his own mirror image in the black screen. He pushed the button on the remote over and over but it simply wouldn't come on.

It couldn't be the batteries in the remote-- he had just changed them last week.

"Great. …Josh, what did ya' do to the tv?"

"Gahh, why blame me?!" Josh asked, setting down the pencil he'd been writing with and with an irritated look, getting up and walking to the television set.

"Try hitting it." Drake suggested.

"That ain't gonn'a help!" came the reply.

Drake paused and then with sincere thought in his tone, he said: "Well then, if it was a girl, I'd just--"

"That's with girls! I draw the line at kissin' a _tv set!!"_ Josh exclaimed, throwing his arms out and shaking his head.

"Whatever." he said back, rolling his eyes as the raven haired boy turned and began to scrounge around the back of the TV.

"Oh my gosh!"

"What?" Drake asked, looking up.

"Man, the power-cord is like cut in half back here!"

"No, seriously?-! I bet that evil little monster Megan did it!" he exclaimed, jumping over to look at it himself.

"Yeah just for a change state the obvious, why don't cha?" Josh retorted in sarcasm.

"Why is Megan so obsessed with screwing up our TV?" Drake said, ignoring his remark and sighing.

"I have no idea. … I guess, just because—" looking at each other they spoke at the same time with a nod: "She's just evil."

"Well, guess who's going to have to pay for another power cord out of his own pocket on account of Megan again?" with a look of indignance in his brown eyes, he paused and then added comic a raise of his hand.

"But we can't go out and buy one until next week—we're grounded, remember?"

"Aww no. An entire week without TV?" Drake muttered.

"A week without—" Josh paused, to gasp: "Oprah?!"

The other teenager rolled his eyes and picked up the cut TV power-cord, throwing it toward him and walking back to his bed.

Suddenly the phone was ringing.

Josh picked up as Drake leaned over to snatch his guitar up from the ledge.

"Hello?" Josh said into the phone, then listening carefully: "…Huh? Oh, sure, he's right here." Turning to his step-brother, Josh said: "For you!" before throwing the hand-held receiver at him.

"Uh, hello?" Drake asked, catching the telephone and holding it up to his ear.

"Heyy, Drakester, this is Scottie. How ya' doin', boy?" the wiry voice came over the wire.

"Oh, hey Scott. I'm fine. What'd ya' call me for?"

"Well, I was kind'a wonderin' if you were gonn'a come with the rest of us to the Brew Note to hang out tonight. If ya' need a ride, Trevor says to tell you he'll like pick you up!"

"Aww, man. Yeah, um, about that… I'm real sorry but I can't come." with a sigh, he spoke the words.

"What?-! Why not? It's Friday night, dude! A.k.a. party-time!" Scottie exclaimed.

"Well, actually, I'm kind of err… grounded. Till next week."

He heard a deep gasp and a murmur of something to somebody else in the background.

Suddenly Trevor's voice rang into the phone: "YOU'RE COMING TO KATHY MCGIN TOMORROW! Oh, dude, please say you are!"

Drake laughed and answered; "Yeah. Don't worry, I'm coming—my Mom said me and Josh could go to that, atleast. But is it okay if Anita Prescott joins the group? I planned to meet up with her there."

Trevor answered: "Sure, no prob'! I'm glad ya'll made up—it was like torture watchin' you two all mad. But anyway, I'm happy you're coming, buddy! That'd suck if you had to miss your chance to see Kate McGin. Well, that's all Scott called about. See ya' tomorrow Drake!"

"BYE BUBBLES!!" Scottie screamed into the telephone as Trevor hung it up.

Drake laughed at the random strangeness of his friends as he tossed the hung-up phone back to his brother, who had been listening intently the whole time.

"Scottie is so…" Josh began.

A moment of silence passed and then both of them said: "Weird." with a little laugh.

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The day passed quickly for Drake, because he spent most of it on the computer, chatting on instant messenger with Anita. As hour after hour of talking to her passed, the warm feeling inside of him grew more and more clear. He had never had this exact kind of feeling about a girl before. He didn't know how to gauge it because he'd never really felt like this. But all he wanted to do was talk to her, hour after hour.

Josh kept nagging him to get off and finally, after about 8 hours straight, he did. But only because he was hungry and it was time for dinner. The dinner was good, because since the candy fiasco, he hadn't had anything. But for talking to Anita, he'd even sacrifice his junk food for a few hours.

Not long after a late dinner at 8:30, Drake signed back on to instant messenger. But (with much disappointment) he saw that Anita had signed off, so after playing a little guitar and laying out his clothes for the concert the next afternoon, he hit the sack.

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The last thing from Drake's mind the next afternoon was the computer. He was going to see Nita!! Yet he was panicked.

It was one in the afternoon. He couldn't believe he had slept late. The concert was at 2 and he was sure he was going to be late.

He jumped in the shower and within fifteen minutes, he was out and getting dressed. His hair was sopping wet and since he was having a rather bad hair day, it took twenty minutes to dry and comb. He was self-conscious the whole time and was sure that his head looked like a porcupine.

He grabbed his camera and put on his shoes, glancing at the clock. It was 1:45. He gasped and grabbed Josh, dragging him toward the garage and shoving him into the car and in to the driver's seat.

- -

Josh drove along the road quickly.

"Aww, man, hurry UP!" Drake pleaded loudly; "I'm gonn'a be late!"

"Well it's kind'a your own fault…"

"That doesn't make me LESS LATE!"

"I know, I know already!" the light eyed of the two responded.

"…Look, Josh, we have to be inside there in like under five minutes!!"

"I heard ya'." Josh muttered, getting slightly nervous.

"No, seriously, I have to meet Anita there in… now FOUR minutes! Quit the slow poking and—"

"Man, could you please stop?! I just passed a red light! Do you want me to get stopped by a highway patrol?" he exclaimed, brushing back his black hair quickly.

"Maybe if ya'd hurry up a little I'd stop! I mean, come on, you're going like twenty miles an hour!" Drake complained.

"I'm going _fifty-five!"_ Josh defended himself.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure THAT'S gonn'a get us there on time." his brother scoffed.

"Fine, then!" Josh exclaimed, kicking it up to sixty-five miles an hour.

"…And that's supposed to be fast? That's just a laugh! I'd hate to see how slow you go when you're 70 years old." Drake continued to pick at his patience, being highly annoyed.

"I'm not going slow!" Josh yelled.

"If _I _was driving, we would have been their like five minutes ago!"

"If _you were driving, _we'd be _in heaven_ like five minutes ago." Josh's retort had only made Drake more riled and he made his insults even more cutting.

"You have got to be _the slowest_ driver ever! I should have just asked Trevor to take me."

Josh felt the remark slash at his feelings and he flared up in an angry voice: "Look, I didn't have to take you! And I'm NOT driving slow! I could drive just as well as Trevor could!"

"Hah." Drake's voice emitted a tiny, sarcastic chuckle.

This angered Josh so much that clutching the steering-wheel; he dug the gas pedal into the floor, taking off down the road faster than light, with a huge squeal from the tires.

Drake's facial expression molded from a hatred-filled annoyance to a sudden burst of fear.

The scenery flew past them at an alarming rate and they were going so fast that Drake didn't even see the speed limit sign buzz past, alongside the flying car.

Josh had determined anger scrawled across his features as he pressed the pedal even harder.

Drake suddenly realized he was scared. They were going faster than ever, now. He didn't dare look at the speedometer, for he knew that it'd only make it worse. He'd never been in a car going this fast before in his life and he prayed he would never be, again.

He turned again to look out the window, as Josh began to turn a corner and he gasped when he saw that the light was still bright red.

Josh began to squeal the tires in a sharp turn. "Josh, please…" he heard his brother's quiet, frightened voice manage. But that was all he heard.

Suddenly, the car began to spin out of control. Josh grabbed the wheel in a steel grip and shoveled the brake into the floor-board, desperately, but it was no use, now. The car spun around and around and toward the on-coming traffic. Josh's heart nearly stopped beating as everything slurred by his window and in front of him.

Then, he looked over at his brother just in time to see a car coming right at the right front corner of the vehicle. With a crash, suddenly everything was over.


	4. We're Brothers

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_Don't own Drake, Josh, Meghan, Walter, Audrey or anyone else in this story except "Kate McGin" and "Anita Prescott" (copyright, Morgan May 2005). I don't own the tv show "Drake & Josh" or any of the characters, and have no connection, affiliation or association with it. Don't own Oprah, either, LOL._

**Note to Readers: **

_I can't believe I actually pulled that last chapter off! I expected it to seem flimsy and unbelievable but it wasn't! I'm so excited! I love to write angst, so this is fun. Thanks for the reviews! I thought for a minute that nobody was ever gonn'a read this story. –hugs this story-- It's really my little baby, this story is. Hehe. Well, this chapter has even more emotions in it. But it should warm your heart a little, apart from the Drake tragedy. R&R!_

**Story: ** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "We're Brothers"; Four_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics i_n_ "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

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Josh's mind was cloudy when his eyes opened. Dust was settling around him, and as his eyes focused, he felt the seat belt gripping him to the seat in a vice-like hold. He figured out that he wasn't hurt badly, just a few bruises and a sore shoulder. The airbag was out, but deflated in front of him and when he realized, with alarm, what had happened, he looked over toward the passenger's side. With a deep gasp, Josh was horrified at what he saw.

He jumped out of the car as fast as he could muster and ran to the other side of it, stumbling a bit as he went along. "Oh, no…" he moaned to himself in a terror-filled tone, as he clutched the crumpled bumper of the car for support: "Oh, God, no…" As he turned the corner and came around to the right side of the vehicle, the sight spread before his unwilling eyes was vicious. Nearly unbearable for him.

The whole passenger side of the new convertible was almost lopped off. The seat belt inside the car, lay carelessly on the seat, snapped in two frayed pieces. Then came the dreaded moment, as Josh's eyes wandered over the scene of the motionless body of his step-brother. Drake lay silently on the soft ground, face down to the grassy ditch that the car had been slung into. Over him rested the crushed piece of metal that had once been used as a car door, and beside him lay the remains of the rear-view mirror. Josh had never felt such a rush of emotion in his life. It was terrible. He didn't want this. He didn't want to have such horrified feelings, building up inside him. He grabbed the car door and managed to drag it away from Drake's body before a hand on his shoulder startled him.

"Are you okay?" a voice of a middle-aged man behind him asked. Josh turned around and in a dazed tone, murmured a faint: "Yeah." After a moment, he asked the forty-ish man: "Who are you?" The man paused uncomfortably for a moment and then stuttered, in a suspicious voice: "I'm… I'm the one _you_ hit. The ambulance will be here in a minute or two, I guess. Your friend looks kind of… bad." the shifty man spoke. "He's… he's my brother." Josh said, with a slightly uncontrollable emotional break in his voice. Believe me, if he could have managed to hide his feelings from this individual, he would have, because though the man _seemed_ nice enough, he had a frightening air of dangerousness about him.

Josh looked back over at his brother's broken body and felt his stomach twist as he realized, for the first time, that Drake was seriously injured, if not dead. With this thought, he left the man and hurried back to his brother, dropping next to him, on his knees. "Oh, no…" he murmured, looking down at his beaten shoulders, as blood began to seep through the fibers, to the surface of the fabric of his sleeve.

"Don't pick him up." a different voice said, closer to him. Josh turned slightly to see another man. But this man had a kind, wise face, unlike the man he had hit in the car. "He may have critical injuries. And you're probably worse off than you think, yourself." "I—" Josh turned and watched the kind man sit down beside him: "No, I'm okay. Just a sore shoulder and a scrape or two. …Who are you?" Josh felt as if he would be forever asking that same question. "My name's James. I saw the wreck and thought you might need somebody here to help."

Turning back to his brother, Josh was barely able to turn Drake's beaten, bruised body face up, without shouting out with distain for himself. A tear dropped down his face as his mind screamed: "What have you done to him?"

"Is he alive?" the stranger asked quickly, dropping down beside Josh and the unconscious teenager. "I…don't—don't—" Josh broke into tears. The nice man bent to gently feel Drake's pulse. Josh looked up with such desperately hopeful eyes that the stranger felt as if his heart would break. "He's alive." he spoke the reassuring words to the devastated boy, for whom he had found compassion.

"Thank God…" Josh murmured, closing his eyes and hearing ambulance and police sirens becoming louder until he thought his ear drums would burst. He felt as if an eternity had passed before he opened his eyes again, to see paramedics quickly surrounding Drake with medical equipment. What happened next seemed to happen almost as quickly as the wreck had, except it was all in a deep white cloud for Josh, unlike the clear, torturous vision of metal crushing metal.

A paramedic quickly looked Josh over to make sure he was fine, and after bandaging a cut of his arm and telling him to be careful with his shoulder, the doctor handed his over to be watched and cared for by a policeman.

The policeman asked Josh's name and parent's names and Josh gave them readily, as he sat, wrapped in a blanket on the seat of the police car, leaning his head against the open car-door frame. Everything that happened seemed to be in slow motion, or in a dream that one begins to recall, but can't see clearly in his mind. The policeman got Walter on the phone and began to talk.

"Hello, Mr. Walter Nichols? This is Officer George O'Brian, San Diego police. Sir, I'm afraid your sons have been in a _serious_ car accident. Josh is fine and unhurt, but Mr. Parker is in critical condition." The officer's brow bent in empathic sympathy to the shocked father of the two boys.

"We're on highway 44, north-bound. Please get here as soon as you can. We're rushing your other son, Drake, to the San Diego Hospital via ambulance, immediately." After a pause and a few understanding nods, the officer talked a bit more to Walter.

Josh was totally tuning everything out. How could this happen? Drake was so helpless all of the sudden. He had been so excited about seeing Kate McGin and now… now what? Josh just wanted to open his eyes and be able to wake up from this terrible nightmare. Drake. Why Drake? Why not him, instead? Why had he done this to his poor stepbrother? Drake had just been playing and joking around, but then Josh had to loose his sanity and cause his brother this tremendous pain. Josh buried his head in his hands and cried. "…Why?" he murmured aloud, unable to contain the whole extent of grief. The police officer patted his shoulder and said in a gruff Los Angeles voice, softened by kindness: "He'll be fine. It ain't you fault."

"Josh…?" a voice asked: "It is 'Josh', right?" The pleasant man who had witnessed the wreck stood there. "Yes, sir." the boy nodded. "Did you see the man that you ran into leave? He's gone!" "No, sir, I didn't. He scared me… there was something weird about him." answered Josh. "Well, if he was unkind, it might have been because his car was ruined." the man managed to chuckle. Josh nodded, but deep inside, he felt that there was something about the man that no one else saw but him.

After a while, James left him sitting alone on the edge of the police car seat. Josh could hardly believe all of this. He felt like he had screwed up his brother's life forever with just a push of the gas pedal. What had possessed him to do that?

The next thing Josh knew was the feeling of his father grabbing him in a tight hug and sniffling his tears away. Meghan hung around her stepfather's legs, being abnormally quiet, and she seemed to understand the emotions of this moment, with reverence. When Josh's dad stepped back after a long hug, he looked up into Josh's face and touched his shoulder carefully: "Be brave, Josh. It's going to be okay." For once in her life, Meghan looked at Josh and threw herself into Josh's arms. With tears in her young eyes, she whispered: "I'm sorry for pranking him yesterday. And you too. Don't worry, Josh. He'll be okay… won't he?"

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Drake woke, the whole atmosphere seeming laden with a thick, white mist. He felt an unexplainable pain course through his ribs and a moan issued from his dry lips. _"Where am I?" _A bright light clicked on above his face and it's clear rays fell down to his waist.

With some difficulty, he managed to focus his eyes to see that he was lying in a bed, dressed in a hospital gown. "…J—Josh…" he tried to speak, quietly. "Don't talk just yet, Mr. Parker." An unfamiliar voice spoke somewhere off in what seemed to be a dense, dim fog.

Drake obeyed the unseen speaker and didn't try to talk. Instead, he struggled with all his might to remember what had happened to him. Try as he might, he could find no explanation as to why or where he was, wherever that happened to be. All he could figure was he had broken ribs or something and that he was in a hospital. He could faintly hear someone walk out of the room and then he heard excited voices in the next room. He laid, in utter confusion, still trying to surmise what had become of him.

He was tired. He closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. It came pretty easy but suddenly he had a thought strike him. _"The box in the garage! Wherever I am, Josh better be guarding it, because if he's not, Dad might find it and then—" _Then what? Drake didn't know. He didn't even really know why he and his brother had been hiding the box, after all, except that they both felt an over-whelming need to. If that box had some connection with the police, and Walter was innocent in the matter so far, the boys didn't want him to find it and be tempted to get involved.

"…Drake?" his brother's voice whispered from a few feet away. Drake opened his eyes, recognizing the voice. "Josh? Where are you?" he managed. Speaking hurt. Especially in his ribs. "I'm here, Drake." Josh said, grabbing his brother's hand. Drake focused and soon his eyes cleared completely, to the sight of Josh sitting in a chair beside the hospital bed. "…Josh, we were in a wreck, weren't we?" Drake said, suddenly recalling everything.

"Yeah, Drake." the stepbrother answered, able to crack a smile: "But you're gonn'a be okay. I swear." Drake tried to stir from his pillow: "Are _you_ okay?" Josh quickly assured him that he was fine. "But… um, I really wanted to talk with you about something, Drake." Drake noticed the somberness in his brother's tone. "What is it, man?" he smiled. "I…I hurt you Drake…" Josh said, his voice starting to crack: "I made all this happen because I was being stupid. I wish I could just rewind back in time and stopped myself. …Why did I do that to you?" Josh leaned over and stopped as a stray tear wandered down his face.

"Josh, I don't blame you, man." Drake said, laying a compassionately forgiving hand on his brother's: "You didn't run into that truck on purpose. We're brothers." He paused for a moment as a stroke of pain battered his ribs. "I… I love you, Josh. A thing like this can't break us up. I'll get well soon and everything will be fine. I promise." The last two words were deep and meaningful. Josh was so surprised at his brother's attitude that a smile spread his face and as a happy-tear fell from his eye, he squeezed Drake's hand. "I know. And Drake… thanks for being you." Drake gave a reassuring squeeze back and Josh left the room, adding a kind: "I'll be back later. Thanks, brother."

As Josh walked down the hall to the waiting room where his parents were, he had for the first time in hours, a hopeful feeling in his heart. Drake apparently forgave him wholly for what he had done, and he was awake and stable. And with a happy smile, Josh repeated in a whisper, what his brother had said to him: "We're Brothers."


	5. It Goes Deeper Than You Think

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_Don't own anything. Nickelodeon owns everything. _

**Note to Readers: **

_Well, I kind of hate the last chapter… it was rushed. It didn't have as much emotion as I wanted. I was also distracted because the tv was blaring and my sister was screaming… so I'm not too happy with it. But, anyway, I think I like this one better. I took me a few days to get this whole chapter because I wanted it to be longer and more enthralling than the last. Hope ya'll like. Somebody please R&R! _

**Story: ** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "It Goes Deeper Than You Think"; Five_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics i_n_ "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

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"Anita?" said Scottie, suddenly finding the confused girl in the gigantic crowd, as the music blared loudly from the stage that seemed miles away. "Scott, where's Drake? He was supposed to be meeting me here like almost four hours ago!" the nearly panicked girl exclaimed. "I was just about to ask you the same thing!" the dumb-struck teenager said quickly. "I've been wandering through the crowd all this time, trying to find him but I can't! I seriously don't think he's here!" Nita replied, her green-blue eyes shining in worry as they scanned the crowd as far as she could see, for Drake.

"Maybe we should try calling him." Scottie answered, not really even thinking. Anita sighed a little, and remembering the slight stupidity in her friend, she answered: "I already called his cell and his house. Neither answer." For once, Scott came up with an actual bright idea: "Why don't we try Josh's cell phone?" "Wow, I didn't think of that," Nita said, slipping her hand into her purse and drawing out her flip-cell. "I hope atleast _he_ answers." Scottie said, watching her dial the number as they walked away toward the doors that lead away from the loud crowd. "I know. I'm worried. I pray nothing bad has happened to him." She said, holding the thin silver phone to her ear and plugging the other so she could hear, until she reached the foyer of the building, where it was quiet. Neither of them knew how much her last eight words where going to mean to them in a matter of moments.

---

Josh sat alone in the spotless hospital cafeteria, eating a sandwich and a bag of chips. It was already past 6 o'clock and he hadn't eaten all day so he was very welcome to the chance to get away and go to the cafeteria. It also gave him time to think things out. His Dad, Mom and stepsister were busy visiting Drake at the moment and Audrey had insured him that they would be fine without him and that he could go ahead and get something to eat.

Suddenly he heard the polyphonic sound of the Oprah theme going off. People sitting at tables around him, started looking around with a stare of confused bewilderment. He pulled out his cell phone and walked past a woman, staring at him with her mouth open. "What? Ya' never heard of Oprah before?" he exclaimed, walking off to the hall outside of the lunch-room.

"Hello?" he said, answering it.

"Josh! Thank God you answered." said the shakily emotional girl's voice on the other end.

"Who is this?" Josh asked, not recognizing the voice right away.

"It's Anita Prescott." she replied, "Where's Drake? What's happened?"

Anita's young voice sounded urgent and worrisome. Thoughts were racing through her mind and she was pulling nervously on her shoulder-length dark blonde hair as she waited impatiently for Drake's brother's answer.

"Umm, Anita, I don't know if I should tell you." Josh said quietly after a moment. "Josh, is it another girl? Did her dump the concert because of a date?" she asked impulsively, trying to force him to tell what was going on. Josh's answer came quickly and strongly, without even a hint of suspiciousness: "No." A moment of silence flew across the airway. "Josh, please…" Anita murmured. The struck a cord in his heart. That was the second time someone had pleaded those two words to his today, in that same, helpless voice. "Josh—"

He spoke up: "Look, Anita, I don't know if Drake wants me to tell you. It's kind of a serious matter." "Josh Nichols, what has happened to Drake?" the urgent, pitiful voice said desperately into the ear of Drake's brother. "…Nita, I'll see what he wants me to tell you, first. I'll call you back in like a few minutes, okay?" Josh spoke calmly. "…Alright. But please," she added, "Don't ditch me. Promise me you'll call me back as soon as you possibly can." She asked. "Okay, I promise. I'll go ask him right away. Bye." Josh said, pressing the "end call" button. He hurried to the elevator and went up to the third floor.

After a long walk, Josh finally found Drake's room and stepped inside. The family was gone and other than the occasional nurse walking in to check all of the monitors, Josh's brother was alone. His eyes lit up the instant he saw Josh enter the room and broke his thoughts away from his harsh pain just long enough to bring a tiny, weak smile to his lips: "Hey, bro."

"Hey, yourself, man!" Josh grinned, sitting in the chair beside the hospital bed, "How are ya' feeling?" "Kind of… alright." Drake fibbed. "Alright" wasn't even close to being truth. Even "pain" didn't begin to describe it, either. "The doc says I've got two broken ribs and one bruised one. He says I have a pulled tendon in my left leg, so when I finally get home, I'll probably have to walk with crutches for a week or two." Josh frowned and looked down for a long moment, then he looked back into his brother's deep brown eyes and said in the most heartfelt tone: "I'm sorry, Drake." Drake shook his head as best as he could and murmured: "Don't do that."

After a while, he looked back at the window across the room and said: "So, why'd ya' come all the way up here, anyway?" "Oh! Gosh, I almost forgot!" Josh exclaimed, surprised at himself. "Forgot what?" Drake asked with a chuckle. "Um, actually, Anita called me. She was worried about you and wanted to know what happened really badly. I didn't really know what I should tell her—or more I didn't know what you _wanted me_ to tell her so I just came up to ask you." Josh answered. "She did call?" Drake said, lifting up a little from the pillow: "Oh, man, Josh, I almost forgot all about Nita and the concert!" Drake said in as loud a voice as he could possibly muster—which didn't happen to be very loud at all. "Drake… would you maybe like to talk to her instead of me? I mean you know her better and it might be an extra comfort for her to actually hear your voice. I mean, if you're like too tired or something—" "Could I talk to her?" the injured brother asked, recognizably happier than before. "I don't see why not!" Josh smiled, bringing out his cell phone from his pocket.

Before he could even begin to dial the number, the phone began to ring erratically in his hand. Drake managed to laugh at the ring tone as he said: "Yep, still the same dork named Josh." with a roll of his eyes. Pressing the "talk" button on his cell, Josh held it to his ear, looking at Drake with a fake, joking look of sarcasm.

"Hello, Anita?" he smiled.

"Josh, what is talking so long? I had to call you back _myself!" _she exclaimed, impatiently.

"Never mind _that! _Do you—"

Anita interrupted: "Where's Drake? What'd he say you could tell me?"

A silent pause over the phone.

"Josh!"

Josh chuckled.

"Josh, if you don't tell me _something_, I'm going to have a mental breakdown and have to be—" Anita exclaimed, standing in the foyer, clenching her fist in anxiety. Suddenly another voice came over the line: "Hey, Annie." The girl gasped in a caught-off-guard kind of way: "…Drake? Is that you?" "It sure is." a weak but smiling voice floated to her ears.

Anita let out a staggered, thankfully relieved sigh. "Oh, gosh, Drake, I thought something terrible must have happened to you." she said quickly. "Well, um… actually," he paused as a wave of pain passed and he regained his composure and voice: "Actually, something terrible did kind of happen to me…"

Anita waited for a moment before speaking as an apprehensive frown spread her face: "…What kind of terrible thing, Drake?" Drake was quiet for a moment: "I…" "Please tell me. I've been so very worried about you for _so_ long! You've no idea." she begged. "I was in a car wreck. Josh was driving and we were playing around and… well, we kind of spun out. He's okay. The car's totaled though and—" "_Wreck! _What about you?" she asked, getting straight to the point.

"Me? Umm… well, I'm okay," Drake answered with a bit of hesitation. "Drake, please be honest with me. I'm so worried about you. I'm—I'm shaking, I'm breathing weird and I—never mind me. _Please _tell me what's happened to you. I have to know the truth." Drake paused and said: "Nita, I'm… in the hospital." "…Wh--at?" Nita said in a shocked, half whisper. "I have two broken ribs and a sprained leg. I'm really sorry for not getting somebody to call you and tell you… I didn't remember about the concert when I woke up, here." "You were… you're hurt? Oh, Drake—" Anita stopped speaking as a rush of emotions over-took her. "You're not angry at me… right?" Drake asked weakly, with a deep tone of worry in his voice. "Of course not." she said, tears straining in her eyes and her voice catching in her throat. "Look, don't cry, Nita. I'll be fine, I promise. Don't worry over me." Drake said. "Alright." she said after a moment, managing to stabilize her voice, "But tell me, how do you really feel? I mean… emotionally." "Well… I can't believe I missed seeing you, if that's what you mean." Drake said, looking down a little bit as a small smile found it's way to his lips. "I… I missed you too. I think it's terrible that you're hurt and that you missed _everything._" "Oh yeah—I almost forgot about missing Kathy perform. Man, how I wish I could have been there. I would almost give anything to be there right now."

That phrase stuck in Anita's brain. Something was special about it those words in her mind. The music from the stage in the next room was fading quickly and she knew at any moment the concert would be at an end. She broke from her thoughts just long enough to murmur a quick and excited: "Drake, I'm sorry, but I really have to go. I'll talk to you later, I promise. Bye." and hang up her phone.

Drake looked toward the cellphone he held up to his ear with a puzzled glance. "…Anita? Hello?" Finally he hung it up and gave it back to Josh. "What happened?" Josh asked with a chuckle: "Did the cell mess up?" "No, she just…said bye and hung up!" Drake frowned with a swift laugh. "Well, that's weird! I guess she might have needed a crying break." Josh said. Drake didn't know why but he found his brother's last sentence hilariously funny. He laughed as hard as he could but he soon quieted himself, figuring out that laughing hard _hurt hard, _too.

"Oh, man!" Josh said, suddenly looking at Drake: "I almost forgot! I wanted to talk to you about something. It kind of has been pecking at me ever since earlier." Drake shrugged with a quick glance at his ribs: "Go right ahead—I'm not going anywhere, _apparently_." "Well, actually, it's about that guy that I hit in the car. He… freaked me out." Josh answered slowly. "Well you probably freaked him out pretty bad, too!" Drake said with a chuckle. "No, really!" Josh said trying to deflect a laugh that was bubbling inside, "He was weird! I mean, he didn't look weird in actual appearances, but he just—he _felt freaky_!" Drake grinned and shook his head: "Explain." "Well… like his eyes were kind of piercing. Like in some sort of Alfred Hitchcock movie when the murderer just _stares_ into the camera. With that—" he stopped to shudder: "Psychotic look in them. And his voice, too. When he talked, it just like sent a big shiver down my spine." Drake seemed interested now, sitting back against his pillows and bending slightly forward, with a different look on his face.

"What did he look like?" "Well… he was short. And sort of pudgy. He wasn't tall at all but he still had that look as if he could beat the _heck_ out of ya'. He had dark hair and I think he had dark eyes, too. As best as I can remember, anyway. It's kind blurry now, I was so much in shock when it happened." Drake's brow furrowed deeply, yet his eyes were rather wide as he stared off into space. A sense of silent anxiety was laced through those deep brown eyes.

"…Why do you ask?" Josh replied, noticing the distant look of fright; "What's the matter?" Drake snapped back into reality and looked at Josh as he quickly dropped back into his pillows: "What? Nothing!" "No, really, Drake—what's wrong?" "I said 'nothing'! Nothing is the matter." Drake exclaimed, turning his head slightly from his step-brother and crossing his arms. He quickly un-crossed then when he found out how bad it hurt to do that, but wished he could do it anyway to show his annoyance of Josh's pursuit of the subject. "Well, something's wrong! Ever since I started describing that dude to you, you just—" "Look, just leave it alone, won't you, please Josh!" Drake exclaimed, looking around his uncomfortably. "Okay, okay. Fine! But if you didn't expect me to notice that when I started talking about something, you clam all up and get all defensive, then you got another thing comin', brother!" Josh said, standing up and walking to the door. "Wait, Josh! I—" Drake began, but it was too later, Josh was already gone from the tiny room.

Drake sighed and turned his head, resting his cheek against the soft pillow. He closed his eyes and hoped that if he could fall asleep that when he woke up, things would be looking up. As it was, the rib-pains were pretty intense and his current state of adrenaline was just making it all worse. Everything sucked. He had missed the concert, missed Anita, gotten in a wreck, had two broken ribs and would most likely be in the hospital for two weeks. Of course, he didn't blame Josh for the wreck at all. Though he _was_ rather selfish, he wasn't in the slightest bit that way in this case. Josh _hadn't _meant to hurt Drake and after all, he had had the guts to actually come to Drake after it all happened and apologize sincerely. That took real courage and Drake knew that. Sighing once again, as these thoughts swirled quickly in his head, he tried to tune out the incessant beeping of the hospital monitors and slip into his own quiet world of dreams. Atleast nothing could hurt while he was asleep. With that thought and a struggle to block out the noises of the building, Drake finally fell asleep in his bed, completely worn out by everything.

As Josh walked to the waiting room, he felt very worried about his step-brother. He seemed to be hiding something that scared him. He had gotten a little look of fright when Josh began to describe the guy he had collided with. But Josh didn't exactly understand the importance of that. Little did he know that Drake thought that he was mad at him. Josh wasn't in the very least _mad! _ Upset maybe. Worried about his brother. He didn't know why though. He didn't realize the significance of those little fears. He sighed out loud as he set his hand on the door-knob to the private waiting room where his family sat alone, trying to fill their time.

As he entered, his dad patted his arm and explained to him that he was going to take Meghan home. As Josh's father and sister walked through the door and closed it behind them, Josh sat beside his mother and she took his hand quickly. "How's Drake?" where the first two words to slip from her lips. "He's doing fine. He even laughed some. He'll be just great, mom." Josh dared not mention the little row the two brother's had had earlier. Audrey smiled a weary smile and patted her cheek: "With a brother like you, he'll get well a lot faster, Josh." Josh smiled and uttered the words: "Gee …thanks, Mom. I'm glad everything's working out okay."


	6. A Guitar is a Teen's Best Friend

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_I don't own the Drake and Josh show or anything about it/in it. I wish I did though, but unless I become a rock star overnight and sell a bazillion albums for 20 bucks a piece, I won't ever be able to own it. –sniffles-- Life is so sad._

**Note to Readers: **

_Okie-dokie… you want a longer chapter, you got it now! I looove this chapter! It's funny and yet dramatic at the end. I'm very please with the outcome of it and hope you like it too. It's supposed to be suspenseful so hopefully you'll feel the "dramatic tension". LOL, thank you for the reviews, guys! Review some more and I'll love you forever! REALLY. –puppy eyes— Pweaaase?_

**Story: ** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "A Guitar is a Teenager's Best Friend"; Six_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

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Anita spoke softly to someone in the hall and whispered in a quick: "Stay right here. I'll call out for you in a little while." before stepping into Drake's hospital room. Drake was alone and his eyes were closed tightly in a deep slumber. Nita felt a rush as she saw him up-close for the first time in nearly a whole year. She had of course seen him every now and then in the hall at school, but for some odd reason, she had always avoided him.

As she walked over to the bedside on her very lightest tip-toe and stared at him for a second, she wondered why she had ever disliked him even a little tiny bit.

She sat by the bed in the chair, just looking at him as he slept. His light amber-brown hair was tousled across his moist brow and his fingers were curled into a loose fist, which tightened and loosened sporadically, showing the waves of pain in his middle were felt, even in his dreams. As she watched his face, she unknowingly reached out to touch a strand of matted hair and moved it from his eyes. Suddenly he moved beneath her hand, causing her to quickly pull it away as he opened his eyes slowly.

It took him a moment or two to figure out everything and when he saw Anita, his eyes lit up in instant recognition. "…Nita!" he grinned, reaching out his shaky, slightly weak arms to her. "Oh! Can… can I hug you? I—mean, won't it hurt?" she said, stopping herself before she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Aww, what the heck! What's a little more pain for a hug? Not like I'd even notice just a little bit more, anyhow." He said, grabbing her gently with a chuckle.

She pulled back after a few seconds and said, with a slight flush in her cheeks: "It's so good to see you again! Even if it _is_ in this terrible hospital." "Me too!" he smiled, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming to see me?" "Oh! Well… actually, I've got a surprise for you." She smiled back, standing up. "What is it?" Drake asked with some skeptically in his voice. "Nothing scary—_really…_" she laughed, "But you might scream anyhow… if you can talk." Drake gasped and held his breath, anticipating something terrible and scarily surprising. "Close your eyes, Drake." Anita said, with excitement in her teenage voice. "Well, alright…" he murmured, obeying reluctantly. "Okay—" Anita called loudly, opening the room's door: "We're ready for you to come in, out there!" A sound of heels shuffling on the cold, uncovered composite tile flooring was the only thing the teenage boy heard for a long moment. "Drake… ready?" the girl's voice asked. "Yes!" he answered without hesitation, wondering what all of the mystery was about. "Okay. Open your eyes." The sweet voice of Anita rang in his ears from across the tiny-ish room. Drake's eyelids blinked open in bleak curiosity and wonder as he finally figured out the sight that beheld him and it registered in his blurry, slightly foggy mind.

"Oh—my—gosh!" he managed to gasp in an unbelieving voice as he recognized the other figure of a person at the foot of his bed. "Nita! How did you—you—you brought me—Kathy McGin!" "Drake Parker, I'm guessing?" the woman beside Anita asked with a sweet smile as she moved to the side of Drake's hospital bed, taking his hand. "Ye—yeah—or—yes, m'am!" Drake stuttered, at a loss for words. "I heard you got into a bad little accident and missed seeing me. I had to come see you after your friend here, caught me backstage and told me what a big fan you are. She also let me hear a cd you burned of your band—you guys are amazing!" Drake looked as if his eyes were going to pop out his head: "Yeah! …Thanks for coming, Miss McGin! I'm—I can't believe you're here!" "Well, it was hard to get her here!" said Josh, stepping into the room. "Josh! …What? You had something to do with this!" Drake asked, thoroughly confused and shaky. "Of course he did! He helped Anita convince me to come! He talked with me over the phone when she came back stage." explained Kathy. "W—woah, this just… wow." Drake said, shaking his head and closing his eyes for an instant. "Oh, Miss McGin, I hope you wouldn't mind signing this," Josh grinned, holding up Drake's cherry-red electric guitar: "Because unless you do before you leave, afterwards my brother's probably try to commit suicide." "Well, we certainly wouldn't want that to happen!" Kathy laughed, reaching for the guitar. "Do _you_ want to sign it, Drake?" she asked him. "Y—eah! Absolutely! _ If you would!" _he panted, barely able to breathe, much less get his words out the way that he wanted them to come out. The rock star took a permanent black marker from Josh's hand.

"How about if I sign it like this: _"Heal up for my next concert incase you have to be my guitarist—Kathy McGin"?_" she asked. "That—that's—" Josh interrupted his awe-struck brother: "That's just fine. Pardon his speech impediment; he's always done that when he sees anything related to you." Drake moaned a quick, embarrassed and annoyed: "—Jooosh!" but turned back quickly, to watch the star's hand move up and down with the pen as she wrote his message and name in neat handwriting.

Kathy finished signing the teenager's guitar and she handed it to him, as if to award him a gift. "Gosh… thank you so _so_ much!" Drake managed to speak. "You're welcome, Drake." she smiled. "Annnnd--" Josh smiled: "Now its picture time!" Drake had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes and sighing deeply at his brother, but somehow he managed to. It was probably the thought that his brother had done this out of the kindness of his heart, even after Drake had been snippy earlier. "Josh, I look TERRIBLE! For goodness sakes, I'm in the hospital!" Drake exclaimed, causing Kathy to laugh: "No you don't, Drake!" Drake quieted as Josh said in defense of his idea: "Well you're not happy if I DO take a picture and if I didn't and Miss McGin, here, left, you'd kill me as soon as you got out of that bed!" Anita laughed at the comical row the two brothers where having. It was common for the two to do this, but they both understood that it was just a joke and that neither meant anything by it.

"Well, Josh, whip out your Kodak disposable 'cause I'm ready to pose!" Kathy joked, leaning in close to Drake and putting her arm around him. Drake couldn't even think about the fact that his rock idol was maybe three inches from him, without feeling a shudder of unbelief fly through his body. "CHEEEEESE!" Josh exclaimed, holding the camera up to take the picture. Drake control his lips enough to form them into a dazed smile as the flash on the camera blinked and made the whole scene of the hospital room fade away into a white fuzz for a moment. Drake turned back to Kathy and gave her a big grin: "This like the best day _ever_." "You're right." she winked, patting his back carefully and standing to her full 5' 7" beside the bed.

"Unfortunately, I have to hurry and catch a plane to LA for a concert, but wish I didn't have to leave." the star said, giving her fan an ample grin and handing the sharpie marker back to Josh. "Aww…" Drake said, only half-hearing what was going on. "Hey, don't worry. I bet someday I'll see you on stage too, Drake." she nodded, leaning over and giving his cheek a light, cordial kiss.

To Drake, the atmosphere faded out into a fog at that point to such an extent that he hardly even noticed her and his family's departure moments later. "Drake?" a voice cut through the mist: "Hellooooo? Anybody home?" "Huh?" he muttered, snapping back from his daze. "Drake? Are you okay?" Anita asked, looking at him from the chair beside the bed. "Yeah… just… freaked. I'm fine." he smiled. "In much pain?" "Um, no, actually… I think I'm too shocked for anything to hurt. It's kind of nice." he chuckled, distantly. "Really?" she replied, pausing for a second. "Uh huh."

"Well then…" Anita leaned in from the chair and before a second had passed; her ruby lips brushed his cheek with a warm, butterfly soft touch. "Maybe you won't have to worry about pain for a while." she said seriously, standing up and smiling strangely before stepping from the room and closing the door behind her.

Drake's mouth was open slightly in astonishment. His fingers deftly ran over the spot on his cheek that seemed to burn and sting, as he once again tried to find his way from the dense fog that seemed even denser now. Never before had they had any type of psychical contact at all-- even during the period they had dated. Drake had been kissed before by a girl like this-- even on the lips, but it never affected him anything like this _ever before._ It was strange to him. A completely new feeling… a good feeling. A right feeling, deep in the middle of his chest. As he settled back into his soft white pillows and touched the place on the side of his face once more, he shook his head at himself and sighed. Speaking in a quiet, abhorring voice at himself, just above a whisper: "Oh no… what have you gotten yourself into now? The higher you get, the harder it's going to hurt when you slip and fall, Drake Parker."

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It seemed forever before Josh came back into the room. Really it had only been about an hour and a few minutes, but when you're stuck with nothing to do but think, it seems much longer. Drake looked up as his stepbrother entered through the door. "So did ya' like her?" he chuckled. "Did I! Of course I did! How couldn't I?" Drake smiled: "It's been so long since I've seen her face-to-face that I almost didn't recognize her!" "No, dope! I mean _Kathy_, not _Anita_." Josh exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "OH! Well, yeah! Of course I did like her too!" Drake replied, slightly embarrassed: "…But why'd you do that? I thought you were…_ mad_ at me." "Mad? Heck no! We're brothers—remember?" Josh winked. "You're awesome." Drake said, shaking his head happily: "And this day is awesome!" "Dude, it's nothing near awesome! You've got two broken ribs!" "Eeh, yeah, _other than that—_it's been unbelievable. I met Kathy McGin, I saw Anita after all, I got a picture with Kathy, an autograph on my guitar and even a—well, anyway, it's been weirdly great." he replied back with a tiny chuckle.

"Oh! I forgot—" Josh began, handing Drake a thick envelope: "I got the pictures back." "Already!" his brother said in a confused voice. "Yeah, I gave the guy at Eckerd's ten extra bucks to get them done within the hour." Josh laughed. "Well what did you do in the meantime?" "…Looked at an Oprah magazine and bought candy." Josh answered. Drake rolled his eyes and shook his head before opening the sealed picture envelope.

As he pulled out the first one, he held it close to his face and peered at it for only a few mere seconds before gasping: "Josh, I TOLD YOU I'd look terrible! Look at that!" Josh rolled his eyes and sighed, taking the picture and looking down at it: "Dude, you look fi—" "And look at _this one!"_ Drake exclaimed in a despising tone as he fairly threw another picture at his brother. "What's wrong with it!" Josh cried, with one brow up. "My _hair! _I mean, just look at it! It's—it's—" "It's perfectly fine!" "No it's not! What ever possessed you to think _that_ was fine!" Drake argued, shuddering at the picture. "I'll tell ya' what possessed me—common sense! Ya' should try it sometime!" Josh replied. "But my HAIR—" "Drake, it's about the _soul, _not the _hair._" Josh said in all seriousness. Suddenly Drake began to giggle. "What now?" his brother asked him, curiously. "What you said…" Drake managed to answer through his laughter. Josh narrowed his eyes and slumped forward a bit in the chair: "Hey, atleast I _took _any pictures!" "Okay, okay! I'm sorry." Drake said, trying to stop laughing. Josh finally let out one little laugh and patted his brother's arm as he stood up: "Enjoy the pictures, bro. See ya' later. Get feelin' better, too." Drake smiled at Josh as he disappeared and the door closed.

"_Maybe this day will be okay after all. As long as Josh doesn't ask about that guy he hit in the car, again… because I can't tell him about that. If I did, he'd either not believe me or get the police involved, and I don't want to even have to deal with it. Anita would hate me if she found out. Anita can't hate me ever… she has to love me. If she doesn't I don't know what will happen. I don't want anyone else._" he sighed aloud. "_Why does everything have to be so complicated? Why can't it all just fall into place by itself?_" That was the problem. Complication. Drake shook his head and closed his eyes, trying to escape from the cluttered depression in his mind. "_Somehow. Somehow it'll fix itself."_

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Drake felt horrible. Not really that much _psychically, _just mentally. The hospital was so utterly boring. What else was there to do except to stare into space and try and figure out his complex problems? It seemed as if he had done everything else that there was. After all, today he had been there exactly a week and 3 days. He missed the computer and the tv, but of all the things he missed, he missed his guitar so bad he could scream. Of course, since Josh had brought it for Kathy to sign, it still sat lost in the tiny, dark corner of the room.

Drake got up carefully from the bed with a few "umphs", and he walked softly and a bit shakily over to the cherry-red treasure. He fingered the autograph of his all-time favorite rock singer and sighed. He could almost hear it calling to him for him to play it. As he slowly bent to pick it up and put it on the bed, he groaned when he turned a way that, he figured from the distinct pain in his middle, he was not supposed to turn. Recovering from the momentary sting, he sat on the bed beside the guitar and ran his fingers over the tight strings. He couldn't help but let out a little whine and childish cry as it barely made any noise. He threw himself back into the pillows on the bed and instantly let out a quick moan: "Oww…"

The door of the hospital room opened and Josh walked in, leisurely. "Hey, bro—I just came to see if you wanted me to—" "Josh!" Drake interrupted his brother as he walked up beside the bed: "Josh, get me some amps!" he finished in an exclamation, grabbing his brother's collar with a wild look in his eyes. "…Lamps!" Josh asked. "AMPLIFIERS, ya' numb-scull! I _have to have them! _I must play this guitar!" "Drake, are you nuts? I can't just waltz right in here with some amplifiers and—" "_AMPLIFIERS, JOSH!"_ Drake screamed, pointing to the lifeless guitar laying on the bed, with a nearly hysterical crack in his voice. Josh's eyes looked quickly from side to side as he back a few steps away and said: "Um, yeah, I'm just… gonn'a go hire a… psychotherapist!" he quickly turned on his heel and ran from the room.

"_Ugh! What is so unreasonable about hating this boring place and wanting something to do! All it is here is a mess of women having babies and old people getting knee-replacements! I wish SOMEBODY would understand enough to help me."_

Suddenly Drake gasped and painfully turned to pick up the hospital phone. Dialing a number, he waited as a girl answered: "Hello?" "YES!" he congratulated himself on his luck, aloud: "Listen, this is Drake. I need you to get me something up here "your style" and pronto. Got me?" Drake asked in a low voice. "Sure. What illegal thing do you want?" the girl replied. "Not exactly _illegal_… I don't think?" Drake's eyebrow raised as his mind pondered the question. "…Hellooooo?"

"Oh! Sorry. I was just thinking. Here's what I want—but whatever you do, don't let Josh see it or find out about it, okay?" "I'm on it."

Considerable minutes later, Meghan appeared in the doorway of the hall to Drake's room. Under her arm, she carried a huge suitcase, securely locked. "Woah, Megs!" Josh suddenly appeared, stopping her. "What d'ya want, boob?" she scoffed. "What is in that suitcase?" "None of your business!" she remarked with a roll of the eyes as she passed him. "Waaait!" he exclaimed, grabbing her shoulder. "Get—off—of—me!" she muttered in a frighteningly low voice. "What! I just wann'a know what's in the stupid—" Meghan interrupted her step-brother with a shout: "If you value any part of your pathetic little life, shut up, Josh!" "…Okay!" he said with a frightened smile, letting her go on her way and into Drake's room.

"I'm here." She said, entering her brother's room. "Well, _finally!" _he exclaimed, sitting up in the bed. She narrowed her eyes and raised a fist as she set down the heavy suitcase, as a warning. "Okay, okay! Sorry!" he pleaded. "Good boy." she approved, unlocking the case as he made his way from the bed and on to his feet: "So did Josh give you any trouble?" he asked. "Yeah… but he's not gonn'a be bothering me anymore." She said with a mischievous grin. "He's… still breathing, right?" Drake said, pausing and raising a slightly concerned eyebrow. "Duh." she said, rolling her eyes once more. "Here—I brought it all." she continued, waving a hand toward the parcels. "Wow, awesome! Thanks! …I can't believe you're actually helping me!" he said, chuckling and shrugging. "Yeah, don't get used to it, boob." She replied, shoving a wad of heavy power-cords at his middle, making his let out an "oomph", and starting out the door, closing it behind her.

He took no time at all to quickly bend to the floor and plug in the ends of a few cords, but he wished he hadn't bent so far down as the hurt rushed to his middle instantly after standing back up straight. He shook it off and with an excited squeal, he rushed over to the bed as fast as he could without hurting himself further.

Josh and his parents and walked up the stairs and down a long, twisted hallway to where Drake's room was. They had all decided to go and see him together (except for Meghan, who at the moment could have cared less), and give him some company. After all, he must get lonely in that little blank room, all by himself.

"You know Josh, I bet he's just longing to get out of here. He's probably going to try to act up soon. I know when _I _was in the hospital when I had Meghan and I had to stay just _three_ days, I almost lost it." Audrey observed. "Aww, no, mom! Drake is really doing fine. He hasn't had even a little hint of evil in—" Josh's reassuring reply was suddenly cut short by an ear-drum-popping sound.

Josh and his parents stopped dead in their tracks, grabbing their ears and their eyes growing big with recognition of the loud sounds.

Walter and Audrey instantaneously ran the few steps to the door of their son's hospital room, ripping open the door, making the huge noise even _louder._ "Drake!" screamed Audrey. He stood in the middle of the floor, jamming on his guitar, not hearing a word through the loud music. "Drake!" gasped Josh, running in behind his parents. "Drake Parker!" yelled Audrey again. Still her son heard nothing. Finally walking over to the amplifiers and grabbing a cord, Josh ripped it out of the wall and screeched: "DRAKE!"

The teenager's heard snapped up and his eyes got big: "…Hi, Mom—Dad! …_Josh._ So, what do you… want?" "WELL—" Walter stopped himself from screaming out loud: "_Well, _I might kind of like to know why you're BLASTING A GUITAR IN THE MIDDLE OF A HOSPITAL?" "I was… it was… why! Did I miss a note?" Drake looked disturbed. Josh walked up to Drake, and stared at him: "What is you problem?" "My what--?" Drake was interrupted by his mother as she quickly walked to him and took the guitar from his hands: "You're in a hospital, Drake! That was probably terrible for the people recovering here! And anyway, you're not even supposed to be walking around any time you please!" "And what's more," Walter added: "_How _did you get those amps up here!" "…_Yeaaaaah!" _Josh exclaimed, crossing his arms and looking at Drake with sarcastically narrowed eyes: "I wonder _how._"

"…Well, Meghan—" Drake had only begun to speak when his mother and father rolled their eyes simultaneously. "Oh so now you're going to try to blame this on your poor little innocent sister?" "Actually, Mom, she did kind of—" Josh was also interrupted by his father: "that's enough from you, too. Drake, you sit on the bed and wait for the psychical therapist to get here. Josh, you go ahead and go to the game room or something." "But I don't wann'a play any games, Da—" "GAME ROOM!" "Yes, sir!" Josh yelped, running from the room as Drake sat obediently on the bed.

"Look, I'm taking this back home with me." Audrey exclaimed, referring to the priceless red guitar. "No!" gasped Drake in a comical emotional voice: "Don't take my baby!" His parents rolled their eyes once again and Audrey stepped into the hall as Walter followed her, turning momentarily back just to say: "No more crazy feats. Sit right _there_ until the P.T. comes, Mr. Parker." before leaving him alone. Drake sighed toward the closed door, brushing a soft brown strand of his hair from his eyes and muttering: "…Stupid hospital."

Within a matter of minutes, the P.T. was there and Drake was walking out with him into the hall. Drake hated psychical therapy. "_It's pointless!"_ he thought: _"I can already walk by myself! There's not even really a point in making me stay in this crazy hospital! I could go home today and be absolutely fine!" _His thoughts where interrupted by a elderly voice beside him: "_Excuse, me_." Drake jumped slightly and looked over at two older women standing in the hall beside him and the P.T. "May I… help you?" he asked, looking at the deep frown in her face. "Yes. Where you the one blasting that guitar a minute ago?" she replied, patting the cane in her hand. "…Ummm… yes m'am. I'm sorry it disturbed you!" he answered, backing away a step or two. "Oh, well… that's alright. But I've got a serious question for you." the other old woman replied. "Mmm?" he winced, waiting for her to scold him and possibly whelp him with the large cane. _"Maybe if she starts beating me the P.T. will stop her…" _"Can I please have you're autograph?" she asked, holding out a pen and paper. "…Uh, yeah! Okay …Sure." he answered the strange request, slowly taking the pen and paper and signing his name. After he handed it back to her, they grinned and sped off without a word to him, giggling wirily between each other.

Drake raised one brow and shook his head with a slightly surprised chuckle, turning to the P.T. "Let's go and get this stupid walking over with."

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Drake had returned to the room with the therapist and when she had left him alone, he tried to lay down and go to sleep. But sleep wasn't coming on easy at _all. _He tossed carefully on the bed, looking over at where his only release—his guitar, had once stood. He moaned impatiently and turned back over in the bed. When was this tormenting boredom going to ever end? He saw that there was absolutely no applicable reason that they should be keeping him there. He was well! He wasn't sick anymore! It had been a whole week and a half! A week and a half of monotony! Oh, sure, the first two days hadn't been so bad. He got cards from Anita and he had still been dazed over meeting his idol, Kathy. Not to mention the pain had kept him somewhat pre-occupied. But now there was NOTHING. Not even his precious signed guitar to _look at, _much less even think of playing. Not even tv. He had tried spending his time with that long, _long_ ago, but soon had come to find out that the hospital only carried local channels that reeked with either news, dog shows, or Oprah—all of which he was decidedly un-fond of.

Suddenly the immortally brilliant thought struck him: "I have to get out of here!" Yes! It would all be fine then! All he was doing was lying up in a bed! He could do that at home, for goodness sakes! Home—where the food didn't taste like rubbery cardboard and where the tv had more than 12 channels! Even the _word _sounded delicious now. He was so engulfed in his luscious thoughts that he barely even felt the slight ache as he rose from the bed to dress in his jeans and a tee-shirt. It hurt to dress in these clothes but what the heck? It didn't matter so much now! He was going HOME!

He had managed somehow to slip on his shoes and tie them before grabbing the handle of the door and opening it slowly. It might be hard to sneak out of this rat hole but it was definitely more than worth it. He made his was down the numerous halls as stealthily and quickly as he could possibly go, and didn't even feel safe when he reached the thankfully empty elevator. The time seemed to inch along as if an eternity had passed before the elevator reached the ground floor of the hospital. He cautiously opened the doors and paused to look out before alighting from it on to the solid floor of the hospital lobby.

He was half way across the lobby before he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of Walter's voice. "_Oh no._" He spotted and darted quickly from view, finding a hiding space behind some large plants and ferns in pots near the exit doors of the hospital. From his safe hiding spot, he watched his step-dad walk across the lobby with Josh beside him, toward the elevator on the opposite side of the room, with their backs to him. Now was his only chance. He knew that if they wanted to, they could have easily turned and seen him, but he'd have to take that chance. He ran out from behind the foliage and out the automatic doors so fast, he almost smashed into the glass of them.

He ran as fast as his weak legs could carry him to his car. Since Josh had totaled his car, he had used Drake's to get to and from the hospital in. Drake grabbed the extra key that he had swiped from his step-brother earlier, from his pocket and opened the car door, slipping painfully inside. He locked it behind him and quickly started the engine. It was at the speed of light that he zoomed from the parking lot of that dreaded place and toward his home where he longed so bad to be in.

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Josh had gone with his dad upstairs to Drake's room but when he opened the door, he found Drake no where to be seen. "He's with the P.T." he reasoned to his father, trying to quiet his own silent fear deep in his heart. But after about ten minutes of tracking the man down, they discovered that Drake was in fact _not _with him. Suddenly Josh's cellphone began to ring. Ignoring the ringtone, unlike as he usually liked to listen to it, he instantly flipped it open and pressed talk.

"Josh—" a weakened voice came into his ear from the thin cell phone.

"Drake? Oh my gosh, Drake, where are you?" Josh gasped, feeling something crumbling inside and figuring out that it must have been his hope.

"I'm in my car driving home… but… oh my gosh, Josh I think I'm going to black out." the wearily frightened tone spoke from the speaker.

"Oh no, Drake—listen, pull over right now!"

"But, Josh—"

"Pull over, Drake! I swear if you don't I'll kill myself! Pull over!" Josh exclaimed, feeling a lump form in his throat.

"…Okay." The whispering voice spoke. Then with a distinct and sudden click, the phone cut off.


	7. Pick You Up When You're Down

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_Not Drake, Josh, Meghan, Walter, Audrey, Scottie, Trevor nor the creepy mystery dude belong to me. Wah. Stupid copyrights. Stupid laws. Stupid government. –Government comes after Ginger with big stick-- --grin-- J—just kiddin'! Heeh._

**Note to Readers: **

_I hope ya'll are starting to get all like "WHO'S THE MYSTERIOUS DUDE!" because that's what I'm going for—complete suspense. Bhwhah. I like worked until like 5am last night writing the end of this chapter. So be thankful for my persistence! LOL. Anyway, hopefully you all will like this one—and be suspense-filled when you finish reading this chapter. –wink-- _

**Story: ** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Pick You Up When You're Down"; Seven_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

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Josh's eyes got big: "Hello? Drake! Are you there? Drake?"

Drake's eyelids flicked open. It took him a minute to remember what had happened. He sat up shakily from the steering wheel and rubbed his forehead, trying to ignore the pain in his middle that once again seemed to grow in intensity by the moment. "_Why did you leave that hospital? Were you insane? You knew you weren't well enough!_" He tried to suppress a moan that seemed to clog his throat as his ribs throbbed. He looked around him, figuring out he was in the emergency lane and remembering when he had pulled over into it. He had barely made it over to the lane and engaged the parking brake before stars started to form in his head and he blacked out.

He sighed and held his head in his hands trying to figure out what to do. He didn't want to try driving again for the risk of having another spell and getting into _another_ wreck. He knew that if he did have another car accident, he probably wouldn't be so lucky. He even doubted if he'd make it through another one. The memory of spinning off into the on coming truck sprang up in his mind and made him shudder.

His eyes faintly drifted over to the cellphone lying in the seat beside him. Quickly picking it up and recalling his phone conversation with Josh, he pressed re-dial. "_Everybody must be going crazy to know what's happened to me!_"

Except the cellphone wouldn't make any noise. Drake held it out from his ear and looked at it. It's screen was black. "What the—?" Drake muttered aloud, pressing the power button over and over, but to no avail. The cell simply wouldn't turn on! Finally after pressing the button atleast a dozen times, it came on. As his finger neared the "redial" button, the "low battery" light began to flash erratically and suddenly it shut of. But this time there was no getting it back on. "Of all the times for the stinking battery to die!" he moaned loudly to himself, throwing the cellphone angrily into the backseat. He let out another moan, but it had nothing to do with the cellphone—his ribs were hurting really bad again. He grabbed his middle with both arms and bit his lip so hard that a single droplet of blood formed on it.

After the torturous pain had mostly subsided, he sat back in the seat and closed his eyes, trying to figure out what to do now. He had no cellphone and was afraid to drive again for the fear of causing another accident and possibly coming to the close of his life. "_If I had just stayed at the stupid hospital, none of this would have happened._" his mind seemed to chant, over and over. He really couldn't think of anything to do. As if his mind was completely stuck. He couldn't even focus. The only solution he could think of that would even possibly work was walking to somewhere where he could use a telephone to call Josh.

_Walking. _With excruciating rib pain so bad at times that he almost wished he were under anesthetic. How could he walk like that? But there were no other options! "_Oh, why did I ever leave that comfy bed?_" Suddenly the pains were back. It was so intense this time that Drake closed his eyes and winced with a teeth-clenching moan. "_Why is it hurting so bad?_" Then he realized it. At the hospital, they had kept giving him medicine all the time. That's why it was so much worse now, and there was no stopping it. "Just great…" Drake muttered, opening his car door an inch or two as he laid back in the seat again and contemplated on getting out and walking or not.

Suddenly behind him a frantic car horn honked. He couldn't turn and look back because of his ribs, but he quickly shut his car door and waited for something to happen. He had no idea who it might be. His father? His brother? His mother? Or just a stranger who wondered if he was okay, maybe? He wished he knew—all of this anticipating and mystery was making his heart beat fast.

A quick and unexpected tap on his window made him jump, causing him to instantly look up and grab his ribs at the same time.

With glad relief, he opened the door and turned, setting his legs outside and putting his head in his hands for a moment, murmuring a quick: "Thank goodness it's you." "Drake! Oh my gosh, we were so worried about you! Thanks heavens you're alright." Anita exclaimed, instinctively touching his cheek fleetingly, making his look up at her. "You came looking for me?" he asked in bewilderment. "Yes. They all didn't know where to look. I figured you were heading home. Then—Josh got your call. I was there. I had come to see you, but when I arrived, they were already looking all over the hospital for you." She answered. "I was so stupid." He muttered, shaking his head. He was going to say more, but he had to stop speaking to wait out the moment of ache in his middle.

"Are you okay, Drake?" Nita said, worry threading her voice's tone. "I… my ribs like really, really hurt." He said in a slightly choppy voice: "I shouldn't have left the hospital. Nita… could you—would you _please_ take me home? I have no cell to call anybody with—its batteries are completely dead." "Of course, Drake! I wouldn't even think about it twice." She answered: "Come on, get in my car." He nodded: "Hold on, it might take me a minute or two." He reached out his hand with a soft, muffled groan: "Help me?" Anita unconsciously let a smile drift to her lips as she also held out her delicate hand and he clasped it, slowly standing up. He took a step from his own car by himself and walked as quickly as he could to her's. "_Maybe if I walk a little faster, it won't hurt quite as bad."_

He reached his friend's car door and opened it, easing himself inside with a little help from her. Once he was settled in the seat, Anita paused for a second: "I think you should call Josh. He was really upset when I left to find you. I don't know why, but he looked like he was feeling guilty for some reason." She handed him her cell from her purse and looked at him a moment before closing the door and walking to her side, getting inside.

Drake sighed and laid his head weakly back on the seat and took in a deep, throbbing breath. He held up the thin, chrome-plated mobile phone that belonged to Anita and closed his eyes after dialing Josh's number, holding it to his ear.

The phone must have only rung once before a voice quickly answered: "Anita! Where is he? What's happened? Have you found him?" "Josh? I'm glad you answered. It's me." Drake answered. "Oh my God! Drake! You're—you're okay!" Josh's voice wavered over the phone. Drake's painful look instantly left his face for a quizzical, puzzled look. He had never heard such raw emotion and fear in his step-brother's voice.

"Yeah, bro, I'm okay." Drake answered, rubbing his closed eyes and speaking in a tired voice, but being unable to stop a little smile from floating to the surface. "Where are you?" Josh asked quickly. Drake spoke into the cellphone as the girl in the seat beside him started the car and began to slowly drive back into the highway lane: "I'm with Anita. I took your advice when I called you earlier—I pulled over and passed out. I'm sorry I hung up so quick, I had to get to the emergency lane as fast as I could. When I woke up, I tried to call you but my cell batteries went dead on me. I need you or Dad or somebody to come pick up my car though. Nita is taking me home." "You sure you're okay?" Josh said in a bleakly joyful voice. "Yeah, I'll be okay. I'm going straight home." Drake answered. "I'm so glad you're fine. I'll go with Dad to drive you car home. Take care of yourself on the way home, brother. Or I guess there's no point in saying that; I know Anita will take care of you. Well, see you at home. Bye." Drake smiled and sighed a "bye" into the cell and turned it off, setting it back down and leaning his forehead wearily on the dash board as Anita rode down the San Diego interstate.

Inside the car was silent for a long moment as they rode together down the highway. Drake winced and muffled a slight grunt every few minutes, but other than that and the hum of the motor, everything was quiet. Drake had to think for a moment before he managed to bring the words to his lips: "Hey… Anita?" The girl who was leaning closely over the steering wheel, quickly turned to glance at him and then back at the highway: "Yes, Drake." "…You know, you're—I mean, it was awfully sweet of you to do this for me. And you came to the hospital, and came after me when I was gone, and even got Kathy McGin to come and see me!" Anita blushed a bit and stared out at the road, not able to bring herself to look at the boy who was sitting so close beside her: "Look, Drake, don't thank me. Really. I just… I just did it because—well, I did it because—" she was on the verge of forcing the surprising statement out of her mouth, but was interrupted by her cellphone ringing.

"Shall I answer it?" Drake asked her, thoughtfully. "Yes, please do." she smiled, fleetingly looking toward him: "I don't like to talk and drive at the same time." Drake reached down in the seat beside him and picked up the phone, holding it to his ear. "Eh, Hello?"

"Hey, bro, how are ya'?" Josh's voice asked. "Just about as… alright as I was 15 minutes ago, Josh." Drake snickered quietly. "Well, that's good. I was just calling because me and Dad just picked up your car. I'm driving it home right now. We both should be home almost right after you get there." "Thanks, brother, that's a big help. I guess I'll see you at home in about five or ten minutes, right?" Drake answered. "Sure will! And, again—be careful until you get back home and in to that bed. …BE CAREFUL DRIVING WITH HIM, ANITA!" Josh screamed suddenly in to the phone, to the driver, making his brother wince and instantly rip the cell phone far away from his head. Rolling his eyes with a quick sigh, Drake brought the phone back to his ear and said: "Good_bye_, Josh." And listening just long enough to hear his brother speak a "Bye!" before turning the call off.

"We're almost home, Drake. I mean, we're almost there." Anita replied, after a long pause and a swift side ways look at him: "Will you be alright until we get there?" He let out a barely legible chuckle: "What other choice do I have besides that, Missy?" "I _meant _the pain isn't _too_ bad, is it?" she said, answering a question with yet another question. "No, not too bad. It's _bad_, but I'll manage to keep myself together." he answered, finally settling the posed query. "Well, I'm certainly glad of that." she said, feeling an uncomfortable silence coming on and staring hard out the windshield.

"So… what did you want to say to me earlier?" Drake asked pointedly, leaning back in to the car's seat and resting a slightly shaky hand on his aching ribs. "Huh?" she said back to him, unsettled. "Before Josh had called. You were talking to me about my not thanking you. I believe you were about to tell me something, when the silly phone started ringing. What was it?" he reminded her. "Oh? Well… I um, suppose that I must have forgotten it or something. I think." she faltered. "Aww, come on! Sure you do! Think really hard." he pushed on. "Oh. Well… I guess I was about to say that I had… done all of that for you because of… because um, of the fact that—well, I kind of, maybe, li—"

"Oh, good grief." Drake muttered as the silver cellular sitting on his knee began to ring louder than life itself. Snatching it up, he smashed down the "talk" button and began to speak, but before the words could form themselves in his throat, he was cut off by the voice on the telephone. "Don't talk—just listen to me. I happen to know that you are friends with Drake Parker. I want to warn you—stay away from him." the voice that Drake heard chilled him thoroughly and gave him goose bumps. It wasn't Josh and the call wasn't meant for him to answer. The tone of the voice on the other line sounded coarse, deep and raspy. It was spiked with disturbing recognition in the ear of the teenager. Again, before he had a chance to respond, the phone on the other end of the airway disconnected, leaving a dead, shallow phone line tone in place of the voice. As he clicked off of the call and looked at the cell-phone's caller ID with a puzzled look, Anita noticed and asked: "Is something the matter?" "…No. Just… it was Josh. He just wanted to make sure I felt okay again." Drake answered slowly. "What happened? Did he hang up on you?" the girl questioned. "Yeah. –No! I mean, the signal must have just gotten weak on us and cut off." he said, quickly backing up his story. Anita merely nodded a satisfied nod and returned back to her driving, leaving Drake to his worried thoughts.

"_The caller ID said "Pay Phone", crap. Now there's no way to block the number from her phone. And she just can't find out about it! How did he find her number? Why is he doing this?" _

He shook his head lightly and sat back, leaning his weary head against the side-window and turning off his friend's cell phone. Suddenly another thought struck him. "_What about Anita's safety? What if he tried to come after her? Maybe I should try to warn her? But then I would have to tell her about—everything._" After thinking for a little while about that, he decided that she probably wasn't in any danger, so he thought it best to not mention this call and hope and pray that he didn't try to call her again. "_Oh, well. I can't think about it, now. I have way too much on myself, at this moment. I just have to deal with it later._"

Later always worked for Drake. And as his friend pulled her car in to his drive way and his mother and sister ran out to meet them, he closed his eyes and thought only upon this one particular thought.

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"Well, Mister Parker, you took a very foolish risk when you left the hospital before you were ready to be released." "Yes sir." "And, since the doctor said you must stay in bed for another week and a half, your mother and I have decided that you can be grounded during that period and an extra three days after that." "Yes sir." "Yes, Drake! That was one of the stupidest things you could have done! If you hadn't been able to pull over, you would have gotten into another accident and possibly not escaped with your life!" "Yes, m'am."

"And—ya' scared me half ta' death!" Josh countered, pointing a finger at Drake who was lying back against some pillows, and crossed his arms. "To you, I ain't saying _anything_." Drake said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms as well. "Anyway, Drake, if you need anything, just use the walkie-talkie to get one of us downstairs—don't get up and try to get it yourself. You hear me?" Walter asked seriously. "Sure, dad. I gotcha." Drake nodded, with a little smile as his mom patted his cheek and she and his step dad walked out of the room. After a moment of looking after them, Drake stared up at Josh and said: "I can't believe I have to sleep in your bed!" "Why? What's wrong with it?" Josh asked, raising a brow. "I dunno! It just has… Josh germs!" Drake shuddered, squirming in the bed. "It does not! Mom washed every single blanket and sheet on that bed today! And anyway, you would kill yourself trying to get up on the bed of your's!" Josh exclaimed. "Yeah… well… whatever. _Your's_ still has germs." Drake laughed sarcastically, wrinkling his nose.

"Aww, Nita, make him give me a break for a while!" Josh whined toward the girl who stood slightly behind him. "_Draaaake_." Anita disciplined him. "I'm sorry—I'm sorry. For you, I'll quit griping about Josh's germy bed." Drake shrugged, with a playful smile. Josh growled and then walked out of the room, as well. Anita and Drake laughed after him and she came to sit down on the edge of the bed.

"You, know," she began, looking at him with one brow raised a little: "You really _shouldn't _ have tried to escape from the hospital. What ever were you thinking about?" "I was so bored and sick of it I guess it kind of drove me out of my mind. But boy, when I woke up in the emergency lane and I was slung over the steering wheel, I certainly knew how wrong it was to have tried to leave." he replied, laying his head back on the soft pillows. "You won't try any more crazy stunts, will you?" she asked seriously, looking worriedly in to his face. "If you don't want me to." he replied. The last six words that had come out of his mouth made her skin shiver with pleasure. "I'm glad."

The two found themselves staring at each other for a long moment and finally Drake cracked a smile and said in a voice slightly above a loud whisper: "…Gosh, Nita, it's good to be friends again." "I know." she nodded distantly. "You never did get to tell me why you did all this for me, in your car." he said. "Do you really even want to know?" she asked, smiling a foxy smile and staring at his glistening brown eyes. "Yes. I really do." he prodded her on, persistently. "Well," she look down at the blanket on the bed and blinked a few times before looking back up again: "I guess I was going to say that I really have found myself feeling—"

"Hey, Drake! Do ya' read me? Hellooooo? Do these things work?" Josh's voice shrieked through the walkie-talkie. Drake sat up angrily and grabbed the piece of plastic, clicking the talk button: "What the heck do you want, Josh!" "I was just testing to see if they worked or—" "Look, I call you, you don't call me. Not unless the house it burning down or there's a tornado outside—GOT ME?" Drake exclaimed. "But I—" Josh began, being cut off by his brother: "Uh oh, there—must—be—interference of some kind—" Drake made some scratching sounds into the walkie-talkie and then sat it back on the night-stand.

"…I was saying that I thought that I might be kind of falling for—" Anita began. "DRAKE? Is it working now!" Josh's voice screamed over the small speaker. Drake quickly reached foreword, sitting up all the way and took Nita's shoulders, pulling her toward him and locking her lips in a sweet kiss. "Hellooooo?" Josh asked in to his own walkie-talkie, starting up the stairs quickly. He rolled his eyes when he got no answer and ripping open the door to he and his brother's room, he paused it the doorway. Drake had Nita in a tight hug. "_Ahhem!_" Josh exclaimed with big eyes, stepping about two or three steps into the room. Drake spotted Josh and frowned, still clasping on to Anita and managing to murmur: "What's your problem, spaz?" "I was _trying_ to call you and test out the _walkie-talkies, Mister Don Juan_!" Josh said, tilting his head side-to-side and motioning with his hand. "I'm busy." Drake mumbled, closing his eyes and rocking Anita side to side within his arms with a smile. "You know, if mom and dad saw this, they'd—" "Aww, go watch Oprah!" Drake exclaimed with a displeased frown as he finally let go of Anita. "It's okay, Drake… I'll go. I'll call you later. Really." Anita managed to say, standing up and walking backwards toward the door with a smile. "Okay, Nita… _bye_." Drake grinned, watching the girl walk slowly out the door and out of sight.

"Now what was _that_ about!" Josh asked, stepping down from the steps and into the lower part of the room. "She's so beautiful…" Drake sighed, laying back and hugging a pillow to relieve the pain in his middle that had finally brought back to reality. "Yeah… not answering my question." Josh said, frowning and raising a brow as he sat down at the computer desk. "Whatever." Drake laughed, sighing again and closing his eyes tiredly. "And anyway, since when have you ever referred to a girl as "beautiful"? I thought you preferred "hot"." Josh mimicked Drake, with a roll of his eyes. After not getting anything from Drake but a mutter of some words that Josh couldn't quite hear, he gave up asking him any questions and returned to the computer, turning it on and logging on to the internet.

With an aggravated moan, Josh exclaimed: "Can't you please fix this instant messenger so it won't pop up _every time_ I sign on to the internet!" "No. I like it that way." Drake chuckled evilly. A moment of silence filled the air for a minute and then Josh sighed: "Draaaake." "What?" "Anita's iming you from her cell." "She is!" "Well, not anymoooore…" Josh said, clicking something as the computer replied out loud: "Are you sure you want to sign off?" Drake gasped, sitting up in the bed: "JOSH! DON'T YOU DARE!" Josh let out a cackle. "You have signed off." the automated voice spoke through the computer speakers. He let out a louder evil laugh but suddenly stopped when a flying pillow slapped him in the head.

"HEY!" he exclaimed, throwing it to the floor: "Why did you do that?" "You can't just cut off Anita!" Drake yelled. "Why not? She doesn't own you!" "Oh, I see! So are you jealous of her now?" Drake shouted back. "Jealous! Why should I ever be jealous of _Anita!_" Josh laughed sarcastically. "Because she's my girl friend and you don't want anybody dominating me except you!" Drake exclaimed. "_Girlfriend! _Oh, that is funny…" Josh said: "Ha, ha, _ha!_" "Well funny or not, it's true!" his brother combated. "Drake, just because she let you hug her without slapping your face doesn't mean she is you're 'girl-friend'! Get a grip on life!" Josh said. Drake narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms: "Your bed is infected with 'Josh-ish-ness'." Josh began to shout: "Well, thank you, Drake Parker, for your little explanation of biology! But just to let you know—"

"BOYS!"

The shout made both teenagers turn toward the door and stare in surprise. "Can you two ever be civil to each other for five minutes!" Walter exclaimed, walking with Audrey into the room. "He signed off when my girlfriend was iming me!" "He was callin' me filthy!" Josh exclaimed. "I did not say that!" Drake exclaimed. "You did too! I remember—" "BOYS!" Audrey shouted over them: "I'm sure you BOTH were wrong!"

"Oooo!" a girlish giggle was heard from the doorway as Meghan ran up to her parents: "Did they slug each other yet? Did I miss it?" "Nobody is going to slug anybody, Meghan." Walter said, turning back to the brothers: "Josh, you apologize to Drake for signing off… whatever you signed off of and Drake—you apologize to Josh for… doing whatever it was you did." The boys turned to each other and both said simultaneously: "I'm… sorry." "Now, Josh, you go downstairs. I think Oprah re-runs are on channel 5." Audrey said. "OH!" Josh shrieked, running out of the room. "And, Drake, lie down and rest up. Today has been an extreme day for you. If you want anything, just give us a holler." Walter said, pointing to the walkie-talkie and stepping with his wife out of the room. Drake snorted after a second and whispered to himself: "'Holler'…"


	8. Poison In Your Dreams

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_Not ownin' nothin' cept the clothes on my back. –shriek-- Don't hurt me scary government people! 0o_

**Note to Readers: **

_I know, short chapter, but it's very emotional and angsty so hopefully you'll be satisfied with 1,720 somethin' words._

**Story: ** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Poison In Your Dreams "; Eight_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flashbacks.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** "he"s refer to the mysterious man.

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Drake's eyelids blinked open with a surprised shudder in his heart. His cellphone on the beside table was ringing so loudly that he had to plug his ear to reach over and answer it. "Mental note—turn down ring tone" He spoke aloud to himself as he pressed the button to answer the phone and make the erratic ringing cease.

"Ugh… H'llo?" he murmured his blurry words.

There was only silence.

"Hello?" Drake repeat, thinking the caller must not have heard him the first time.

With another pause, suddenly the line went dead and an eerie dial tone emanated from the tiny cell speaker.

Something in Drake's stomach knotted within an instant and his eyes glazed over in a stare as he deftly hung up and pulled up the caller id listing. Barely able to pull his eyes back into focus, he looked over at the tiny LCD screen and felt a sickening shudder pass through his entire body. He snapped it shut and closed his eyes tightly, clutching it as a wave of pain and fear flowed down through his chest simultaneously.

"_Oh no… God, why is this happening to me? Why can't the past just stay the past? Why must it ever be brought up again? What if he tries to hurt me? Or worse, what if he tries to hurt Anita? I can't let that happen! Nothing can happen to her because of me. I'll just have to tell her._" Suddenly an image flashed through his mind like lightning, but seemed as real to him as the pain in his ribs.

"**_I've got to get away… I've got to get away…" that was all the thirteen year old boy was thinking as he had thrown a suitcase over his shoulder and crept down the a flight of metal, outdoor stairs. Everything had gotten worse. He had been staying at his best friend Trevor's house, but little did he know that he would take him. He had left the boy alone for almost years it seemed. He hardly even knew him_ _anymore. Drake had gone with him only because he didn't want to hear the louder screams than usual. And anyway, though he was tall for thirteen, he_ _was still over-powering when he began to yell. When he towered over Drake, Drake could only think over and over: _**_"What right have you to do this to me? You aren't even my family! You haven't bothered me in so long—why must you bother me and my mother now?" ** But now he didn't even care if that dreaded man even died. It would have been easy for Drake to shout things at this man that would normally make him blush in shame to hear anyone say. It would have even pleased the boy to have this man disappear completely from the universe. Why couldn't it be that way? Why did he choose **them** to abuse so horribly? Why? **_

Why. That was always the question even from the beginning.

Drake shook his head and sighed out of complete depression. Looking toward the window, he saw that it was pitch black past the curtains. He tried to clear his mind of the vicious circle of thoughts that made him spin and leaned over, turning on the walkie-talkie.

"…Hey, Josh? Somebody?"

"What is it?" Meghan sighed, sounding annoyed.

"I wann'a talk to Josh." Drake replied.

"Ugh… why?" Meghan moaned.

"Get Josh!"  
"Fiiiine." She growled.

After a second, Drake heard from the open door to his room, Meghan get up and run out of the room, screaming: "JOSH, get your butt off of the couch and come talk to Drake on the walkie-talkie!" There was a moment of silence and then he heard a mutter of an: "Aww man, Oprah was on…"

"Hello?"

"Hi, Josh. Is that all you do—watch Oprah?"

"Is that all _you_ do—berate me for watchin' Oprah!"

"Sorry, sorry. Will you come upstairs for a little while? I'm getting lonely and I… I need to talk about something." Drake asked.

"Well, okay, Drake. I'll be up there in like… 30 seconds."

Drake laughed: "It takes you thirty seconds to get up the stairs!"

Josh growled into the speaker: "Don't mock me." And then the walkie-talkie went silent.

Drake could hear Josh's feet pounding slowly at the steps and finally he appeared in the doorway, walking down into the room. "See?" Josh gasped, breathing shallowly: "I made it up faster than 30 seconds." Drake laughed and said: "Yeah, I know." Josh glared sitting down on the couch and looking over it, at his brother. "…So, what is it?" "Wh-what?" Drake muttered, caught slightly off-guard. "I said what is it? Why did you call me all the way up here?" Josh asked again, with a raised eye brow.

Drake began to speak but his fast heart-beat made him stop for a moment. Thoughts began to race through him mind. _"What if Josh doesn't believe me? Or what if he does believe me but hates me for it? What if he blames me with it—what if he thinks it was my fault? I wasn't my fault! But will **he** think that?" _ "I… I um…" his mind was spinning so hard that he barely even knew he was speaking: "I can't…"

"_He'll despise you. You know he will! Why shouldn't he? And then you'll be all alone. Alone. You don't want that again. Don't, Drake. Don't tell anyone. Don't."_

"Drake?" Josh's frightened voice suddenly cut through his blurred thoughts: "Drake, what's the matter?"

"…What?" Drake asked in a weak voice, shaking himself out of his daze and looking up at his brother, who wore a thoroughly worried and confused gaze as he stared at Drake. "You were—Drake, what's wrong? There's something that you're not telling me." Drake closed his mouth and turned his head from his brother, obdurately and refused to speak. "It's about that guy from the wreck isn't it?" Josh asked. Drake sucked in a painful breath and remained silent. "Answer me!" Josh pleaded. "…No." Drake murmured bluntly, tearing burning in his eyes, waiting for him to release them. "Drake, don't be stupid!"

Drake reared back as if Josh had slapped him: "I'm not being stupid!" his brother's comment had hurt him very badly and landed a hard blow to his pride, though it had only been dealt out to try and take Drake's misery away; "I can't tell you! I thought I could but I can't! If you asked until next year I couldn't tell you! So hit me, ignore me, do whatever but I can't tell you! And I _won't_ tell you!" Josh winced inside and bit his lip. "Look, Drake…" he had begun to say something, but stopped when Drake burst into tears and fell limply across his mattress. This sight deeply disturbed Josh and made his stomach wrench into a tight knot. His brow bent immediately in painful sympathy and his eyes filled too, with hot tears of compassion. "Oh gosh, Drake…" he managed as he also burst into full-blown sobbing: "I'm sorry." "I can't take it anymore… I don't know what to do. _Help me, Josh._" Drake declared through his weeping. Josh's heart wilted despondently at these beseeching words and he let out a teary gasp, reaching out and taking his brother into a deep hug.

Drake's flaccid body shuddered and shivered with almost bottomless sobs as he cried on Josh's shoulder. This hug was more than just a hug to Drake. Josh hugged Drake all the time but it was more a brotherly "happy" hug. But this hug was saying something. It was saying: "I'm here for you, Drake. I'm here to always help you. I'm your brother and I love you." These warm thoughts vibrated in his tired heart and made him see a tiny flicker of hope. "Thank God for you, Josh." he murmured as the hug came to an end.

This brought a tiny smile to Drake's brother's face as he wiped tears from his face and looked on at Drake: "No. Thank God for _you._ Without you I wouldn't know the meaning of having a brother. And having _you_ as a brother." Drake tried to smile for a moment but then lost his will to do so, remembering his terrible problem. "Josh… please, don't ask me about this. I'll tell you someday… I'll tell you soon. But right now I have to figure out a lot of things first. But please, just be there for me. A sort of… "_shoulder to cry on"_, if you will." He said slowly. Josh looked down for a second with a serious look on his face and then looked back up: "Okay, brother. You can trust me to be there. I swear." Drake nodded with a satisfied look of slight peace: "Thanks, Josh. I'm glad you understand."

Josh patted his brother's shoulder and got up to walk to the door. Turning quickly around, he winked and said: "If you need something, I'm down there okay? That's what that walkie-talkie is for." Drake nodded once again and smiled as Josh walked a step out the door and closed it behind him.


	9. Down We Fall

**You are so clever,**

**You kept it together today.**

**By the way…**

_I'll no longer ignore you._

I wanted to show you again…

I'm your friend.

**Sometimes,**

_**We Just Pretend.**_

All I can say is you saved me,

_Changed all the things that have made me._

**Entertaining thoughts are raining…**

Down We Fall.

It's all OK.

When I say…

You and I.

_Take your time,_

**I can't wait to see you fly.**

_You don't have to wonder._

I finally discovered, tonight—

_**We were right.**_

This is just the beginning.

_That's all that I'm trying to say._

If I may—

You're never in my way.

**Entertaining thoughts are raining…**

Down We Fall.

It's okay when I say:

_You and I._

**Take your time,**

**I can't wait**

To see you fly.

You saved me.

_Changed all the things that have made me._

Thoughts are raining…

Entertaining thoughts are raining…

Thoughts are raining…

_Down We Fall._

Excerpts from "Down We Fall" written by Drake Bell on the album "Telegraph". © Copyright Drake Bell, 2005.


	10. Spawning Storm

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_We all know that me, a thirteen year old girl with a psychopathic father doesn't own anything, much less anyone or anything in this story. Drake and Josh belong to Nick. Laws suck. If money didn't exist, I could just trade like 100 pigs or sheep for the rights to D&J. Not that I'd… have any sheep… I'm SHEEPLESS!_

**Note to Readers: **

_Well, guys, it's 5:40am and guess what I just got finished typing up? THIS CHAPTER! LOL. I hope with all of my heart that it at least makes a little bit of sense and isn't either overly dramatic or other wise way too un-emotional. I think I got a sensible storyline out of it, but then again, it's still almost 6am and I'm about having to prop my eyelids open with toothpicks. I was listening to Drake's cd the entire time so hopefully that inspired me in a good way and I have come up with some actually substantial material at such a weirdo hour. Pardon me if anything is grammatically or otherwise screwed up-- just try to make the best sense out of it as you can. Hope you're awake right now, because otherwise it might be hard to understand. Or then again, if you are asleep when you read this chapter you might be able to understand it as I did when I wrote it. I also tried to describe Drake in a hot way… so it might have turned out a little… um… how can I put this? Stupid? LOL. Annnnnyway, rofl, I hope it's acceptable. Read and review! Oh! And also, thanks for the nice reviews on the last chapters! Love you guys! Off to bed I go! (Aren't you all so relieved!) LOL. _

**Story: ** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Spawning Storm"; Ten_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flashbacks.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** "he"s refer to the mysterious man.

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A week had passed since the last very emotional explosion. Drake had become a little restless about staying in his room, but other than that, he was actually doing pretty much alright.

The pain in his middle wasn't as fierce and it was much less frequent and crippling. Anita had visited a few times during the week and that in itself cheered Drake up very much. In fact, he felt pretty okay. He had gotten to play his pricelessly signed guitar a bit and since Josh had surprised him with a new tv power cord, he could watch tv as much as he wanted. Well—that is, whenever Oprah wasn't on. At _that_ time, Josh took over the tv set and Drake would always put the pillow over his head and go to sleep, hoping to not wake up until the program was completely over.

Today, that particular schedule had taken place, once again. It was Saturday afternoon and Oprah wouldn't have been on if it hadn't happened to have been a special sort of live fundraiser episode.

Suddenly, Drake awoke with a start. The phone in their room was ringing loudly. As he sat up from the bed and looked around, he gasped and looked across the room with disgusted shock. Josh was sitting on the couch, quietly watching Oprah and cuddling the card-board cut out version close beside him. Hearing his brother moving behind him, he grabbed the "Oprah" and stuffed it quickly under the couch. Drake got up from the bed and shook his head with a horrified frown scrawled across his face as he walked toward the desk where the phone sat, ringing incessantly. He turned to point at the tv and said: "Turn that thing down!" Josh complied and leaned closer to the tv to be able to hear, as Drake reached the desk.

He faltered before reaching to answer it, wondering if it was _him_. "_What if it was? What would I say with Josh only like ten feet away and in the same room?"_

He bit his lip & glanced fleetingly in his brother's direction before forcing his hand to pick up the phone with seemed to ring on forever.

"…Hello?" he said in almost a painful tone.

"Dwake! Aniwta towd me abowt your accident! How do you feewl?" the voice of Lyn squeaked into his ear. In a way, he was actually almost relieved that it was atleast _someone_ other than _him_, but then again, how much better could it be talking to Lyn?

"Oh, hi, Lyn. Yeah I'm… _fine._" He mustered. "Oh gweat! I was so wowwied about you! I wish I cowld have known abowt it earwier—I would have wushed wight over to the howspitawl. When I heawd abowt you, I cwied and cwied." "Oh…? Thank you?" he said slowly with a frown of confusion. "Down't twank me, Dwake… I wove thinking about you…" she said with a bit of sass in her voice. "Uhh… uh—Call you back!" he said with a look of horror as he quickly hung up the phone.

Sighing, he shook his head. "What's your problem?" Josh asked, turning off the tv (since Oprah was over). "Nothing. Just don't enjoy waking up to you makin' out with Oprah and then on top of that have to talk to Miss "Wyn". Yeah… _nothin' _could beat that combination." he said, closing his eyes with a quick shudder. Josh glared for a minute and then said: "…What did Lynn want, anyway?" "Oh, nothing. She was just—flirting. Eww." Drake quivered. "Since… when did the king of flirtation ever 'eww' at a girl hitting on him?" Josh laughed with a disturbed look on his face. "Since he talked to Lyn." Drake answered with a blank sarcastic stare. "Oh, okay." Josh snickered, sitting on the couch: "…So! What are ya' gonn'a do about her if she's crushing on you?"

"Okay… I did not ever want to hear those last four, disgusting words. I have _no_ desire to do anything about her… just to make her go away permanently." he answered, shaking his head in annoyance. "Man, she seems like a pretty stubborn girl." Josh said. "Stubborn? How can she be stubborn—she's got nothing left in her head!" "Hey, it don't take much in the head to be stubborn!" Josh said matter-of-factly. "Oh, yeah. You're right. You should know." Drake replied. "Yeah." Josh agreed: "…Hey!" "So, what _am_ I gonn'a do? Apparently she's not gonn'a quit bothering me without some… _encouragement._" Drake asked, ignoring his brother. "I dunno, man. Hopefully she _will _just leave you alone." "Leave me alone? That's hopeless." Drake sighed: "Sometimes I wish that I didn't have to be so irresistible." "…Well that was humble." Josh replied, nodding once with a raise of his brow.

"Okay, fine! Don't help me!" Drake said, shrugging and slowly walking over to the window. Josh felt the slight tension in his step brother's tone and realized that he was worrying about something other than the task of ridding himself of Lyn's attentions. Josh began to say something, but he stopped himself, recalling what had happened between them last week.

Clouds were gathering darkly in the western sky, in the thick black piles, blocking out the sunlight and lending everything the tint of a musky, dirty green color that warned of the approaching storm. Drake opened the window and leaned a little way out, feeling the greenish glow reflecting off of his light skin. His chocolate eyes shimmered in the strange light and the warm wind blew a few strands of his hazelnut-brown hair across his forehead. His demeanor was more or less restless, but he still had a twinge of pleasantness about his present nature.

Josh sat in the computer – desk chair, staring at Drake in deep contemplation: "_Why couldn't Drake just open up and tell me what's going on and what's bothering him so much? He's become so quiet and introverted ever since we argued that time in the hospital. …Two weeks he's been like this. And then, that episode last week when he cried. He NEVER cries! What is so wrong with him? It has got to be something horrible or else he wouldn't he wouldn't be so secretive. What could it be? It's not girl trouble—he and Anita are back together and she's become so close to him again. Maybe he's still resentful and depressed about the wreck? Is he upset with me about causing him so much trouble? I never meant to. I hope he understands that. It could be that he's still thinking about it, but then again, why would he be so quiet about it? Surely he'd tell me! He's not good at all at keeping secrets from me. What's wrong, Drake? What is it?"_

Josh awoke from his thoughts at the sound of his mother's voice yelling up the stairs: "Drake, Josh—your dad and Meghan and I are going to her school recital, okay? I'm leaving you two home. See you guys later!" "Okay, Mom, have a good time! We'll be fine here! Bye!" Josh said, getting up and walking toward the door so his mother could hear him. Unlike his brother, Drake didn't stir from his spot at the window, watching the storm and nearly drowning in his over-whelming thoughts.

As the humid mist on the edge of the hot wind kissed the ends of his brunette bangs, making them slightly curl in the heat, he stared at the on-coming storm clouds in deep reflection. A silvery blue rod of electricity bolted from the clouds and struck to the ground, causing a huge explosion of thunder. He could feel the electric charge that the storm was giving him and it made his skin crawl with tiny goose bumps.

"Hey, Drake—" Josh interrupted, pulling him from the window and closing it: "Come on downstairs with me." "Downstairs? Wow… okay! That's a change! It feels like I haven't been down there in like forever and a day!" Drake replied, seeming to snap out of his queer daze he had been in.

He and Josh walked across the room and through their door, into the short hallway. When they reached the stairs, Josh began to go down them quickly when he realized Drake wasn't beside him. Turning to look up the previous four steps, he spotted Drake at the top of the flight, biting his lip and looking down the stairs uncertainly.

"Oh! I'm sorry Drake! I forgot!" Josh exclaimed, racing back up the steps after realizing that Drake hadn't been _down_ the stairs yet. "Here—" he reached out his hand to him: "I'll help you." Drake smiled with a relieved and thankful grin and reached out to grab his brother's hand firmly as they both took the first step downward. Every now and then on the way down, Josh asked his brother if he needed to stop for a moment but Drake only replied: "Don't worry about me, brother. I'm okay."

When the two reached the downstairs, Drake patted his brother's shoulder as a "thank you" and went by himself to sit on the couch. "Hey, Drake, I'm gonn'a go make a sandwich in the kitchen, 'kay? I haven't eaten a lot today." Josh asked. "Sure, bro. I'm just gonn'a watch the weather channel." Drake replied with a chuckle, picking up the remote.

Almost as soon as his brother had stepped from the room, it began to ring again—the phone. Drake muted the tv and managed to stand himself up from the couch. The telephone had rung five times before Drake had reached it but it kept ringing. He sighed and yanked it up with a roll of his eyes: "Hello, Lyn." Suddenly he froze. Nobody would speak to him over the line but the harsh breathing let him know who it was.

"…H-hello?" he stuttered, feeling his hands beginning to shiver. "…Drake." An icy voice whispered eerily into his ear and through the tiny telephone speaker. "What do you want?" Drake asked quickly, nervously backing into the side of the couch, and barely being able to hold the phone; his hands were shaking so badly. "I want you. …And I want your misery…" the voice eerily shuddered it's way through his entire body. "Why? Please, just don't call me any more!" Drake pleaded. "No. I'll call you as much as I want to, stupid filth." the answer came back. "Leave me alone!" Drake exclaimed, trying to drown out his teary voice with a tough, hard one: "You can't do anything to me. I have a family, now—a good family that loves me—and… and you can't control my life the way you want me to be anymore!" Drake yelled in to the phone, hardly caring if anyone heard him.

The speaker on the other line began to speak once again, but Drake quickly tore the phone from his ear and shouted into it in disgust: "For God sakes, shut up and leave my family the hell alone!"

Suddenly Josh's voice came from the other side of the room, making Drake put the phone down: "Drake!" The over-wrought teenager turned and looked at his brother, trying to figure out what to say when the phone began to ring again. Each ring sounded louder and more taunting to Drake. He closed his eyes and bit his lip, clutching his ribs with one hand and running a hand through his hair, pulling on it as if this act would release his terrible tension.

As Josh stood in the doorway, staring in shock and the terrible phone kept ringing and ringing, Drake began to feel the old feelings of helplessness creeping back into his unwilling heart. The feeling of being unable to escape-- unable to free himself-- unable to make anyone understand, started to make his head spin. He struggled with this feeling for a moment, unbelieving that he had let it slip back into his life once again, but he eventually gave up the fight and slid hysterically to the floor in defeat, beginning to sob harshly. Each sob made him feel worse. Each tear made his ribs hurt worse and each ring of the phone made his spirits sink even lower.

"No… no… don't let him, Josh," Drake moaned, feeling his hope collapse inside of him like a tent in a tornado: "_Please…_" Josh was in sheer shock and seeing Drake--strong, tough, funny Drake-- be reduced to this pleading, helpless, listless form lying on the floor, crying hysterically made him feel like he wanted to crawl under the his bed covers and to not wake up until this nightmare was over.

With alarm sizzling quickly through him, Josh shook himself awake and rushed toward the ringing telephone, that seemed to be causing Drake so much pain.

Drake gasped painfully, trying to sit up: "No! Josh, don't answer it! Please don't! Josh, I'm begging you-- don't pick it up! _Please!"_

"No, Drake. I'm not listening to you this time, and for your own good." Josh answered firmly, holding the phone to his ear: "Hello?" "Drake--" the jagged voice began. For once in his life, Josh became tough: "This is Drake's brother. What do you want?" "I want to talk to him." the male voice growled rigidly. "Well, you can't. Who ever you are, don't call here again. I don't like people who hurt my brother. So back off of him--understand?" Josh answered gruffly, barely able to restrain _himself_ from cussing at the top of his lungs. At this, he hung up the phone resistantly. He turned to face once again his hysterical brother. But when he did, Drake was no longer on the floor. He was sitting on the couch, wiping the tears as best as he could from his face and brushing a damp lock of hair from his brows.

"…We--we really need to talk about something, Drake." Josh managed, still feeling his heart racing as he walked to sit in the chair closest beside the couch. "I… know. I'm--I'm sorry about the cussing. It just slipped out and I--" Drake began slowly. "That's not what I want to talk about. …Who is this guy? And why does he have the power to scare you so much?" Josh said, being dead serious and with out so much as a hint of a smile for one of the rare times in his life. "He's… just a guy. I can't say who." Drake answered distantly, standing up and turning a little bit from the other boy: "He's been… never mind." he faltered, suddenly becoming quiet and not going on with his sentence. "Drake, this is serious. It's not a game anymore. You have no choice but to tell me something about what's going on--I won't take no for an answer, now. …For your own sake, tell me." Josh replied, determinedly. "He's a…" Drake turned back and stared at Josh as if he could almost see though him and the wall behind him, into the sky: "A stalker. Or that's what he's been doing, kind of…" Drake finished, answering slowly. S

"_Why in the world did I just tell him that? I shouldn't have told him anything, much less that! No one except me is supposed to know about what happened! What will I do now? He'll be so interrogating!"_

Drake snapped out of his thoughts, feeling his heart beat fast as he waited for a reaction from Josh. But still these monstrous notions whirled dizzily and mercilessly in his tired mind. "Drake… you're kidding, right? He's _stalking you?_" Josh asked with awe in his shocked voice. "Yes. He is. But… but Josh, I'm handling this myself. I've handled him before. If you get all proud of yourself because you're being the protecting big brother, you'll just drag me down in way more trouble. So… let me do this alone." Drake's words hurt Josh's pride tremendously, but before he could even begin to think of that and how his mind stood on those thoughts, a few words of Drake's little speech stood out un-mistakably. "Wait a minute…" Josh began, standing up and turning Drake to look at him: "You've 'handled him before'? …Drake what past experiences did you have with this guy that you're not telling me or anybody else about?" Drake's eyes filled with a look of rapidly mounting fear and torment. Those normally shining brown eyes never had looked so frightened to Josh, ever since he had met Drake. But now they began to fill again with wells of tears.

Drake stared at his brother with panic written heavily all over his features and finally he pulled from the hands that were gripping his shoulders with such curiosity. "Josh, don't do this to me. I thought you actually _understood me_ last week when I had tried to explain to you why I can't tell you anything. But you don't understand, do you? I tried to tell you the best I could. I tried to say as much as I could, but now it's gotten to the point where I have no more to tell you that's safe for you to know!" Drake exclaimed through his tears as he walked a ways away from the couch. "I wish you'd just _understand_ me. Just for once--right now." he pleaded, raising both hands to his brow and grabbing two fists full of hair.

This had struck a real chord with Josh, bringing familiar tears to his eyes too: "Drake… I'll _try_ to understand. I just hate seeing you like this--seeing you so demolished, so really destroyed. Drake, what's _happened to you?" _ Josh asked with tearful worry stripped all through out his voice: "…What's happened?" Drake bent over in tired loss at these heart-wrenching words and cried out loud. "Drake, don't cry--I'm here for you." Josh said, trying to calm him. But his brother continued to cry wearily and when he looked up, Josh was only about a step from him.

"Don't cry. I might be prideful in being a 'tough big brother', but prideful of not, I still plan to do what ever I need to, to protect you, brother." Josh answered, reaching over to the tissue box and handing his brother a tissue. After a moment of drying his tears and composing himself, Drake brushed his damp cheeks with his hand and said: "Thanks, Josh. But… don't get hurt just to defend me. I would rather be hurt myself than have to see you be hurt because of me." "I'll be careful for you. I promise. But he's not going to bother you anymore. I wont let him." the brother answered, slowly and surely. Drake breathed in a shaky breath and tried once more to dry his tears completely: "Thanks for trying, Josh."

Josh put a hand on his shoulder understandingly, patting it and nodded after a moment: "…Hug me, brother?" Drake let out a teary laugh and wrapped his arms around Josh's shoulders limply, feeling himself being lifted slightly off of the ground, and for the first time in nearly an hour smiling: "Yeah, brother. I think I probably need a big hug right about now."

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Things had pretty much settled down in the Nichol's-Parker house for the rest of the afternoon. Drake had settled himself down on to the couch with a bag of _Smarties_ candies and a glass of mocha-cola and was intently studying a bound book of papers. Josh was in the kitchen cleaning out a cabinet of old food. This is the chore he had been assigned to do by his mother for payment of "attacking Meghan" two weeks ago instead of being grounded, because of the outcome of the car accident.

Josh stuck his head through the window of the kitchen that lead to the family room and caught his step brother's attention: "Hey, Drake!" "Yeah, Josh?" Drake said quickly, snapping from his daze as he was scanning the pages of the book, and turned around in his seat, facing in his brother's direction. "Do you still want these things?" Josh asked, holding up a tiny, colorful cardboard box.

Drake gasped and jumped up from the couch: "YES! I WANT THEM!" "Well, why? It's just a—" Drake interrupted Josh by snatching the box from his hand: "Why! Because their my very first box of my super-power-mega-sours!" "But their like… four months old!" Josh said with an amused confusion written on his face as he pointed to the box in Drake's hands. "So! Super-power-mega-sours NEVER lose their—" "Super-powered, mega sourness?" Josh asked with a chuckle. "Whatever! Their still—" "Still goin' in the trash!" Josh said, grabbing the box and beginning to walk away. "JOSH! Don't you even _think _about throwing those away!" Drake exclaimed. But when his step brother seemed to pay not attention, he jumped up on to the counter of the window and slipped quickly into the kitchen on the other side. "Give me that!"

Drake ripped the box away from Josh's hands and clutched it to himself, narrowing his eyes and muttering in a low tone: "Their _mine._" "Okay, fine!" Josh shrugged and rolled him eyes, with a look of annoyed confusion: "Well, can I atleast throw away these old gummy bears?" "Why?" "Because their _old._" Josh said with a chuckle. "Okay, okay! Throw them away!" Drake said, rolling his eyes as well and walking out of the room with a mumbled: "_Tryin' to throw away my mega-sours…_" Josh sighed and Drake went back in to the family room, sitting back down in his place and taking up his manuscript.

He began to drift off in to a dreamy daze of thought. He was thinking about lots of things. One particular was about the man who kept calling him. "_He is so determined on calling me. He simply won't leave me alone. What am I gonn'a do about it? If it gets too bad I could call the police. But they won't believe me! And then Mom and Dad would ask about it and… and I couldn't even begin to describe everything. It's too complicated, now. Why did he have to weave such a complicated mess? How could I ever start to tell anyone after all of this? I couldn't… Could I?_"

"You have to be kidding me!" Josh's voice suddenly spoke beside Drake. He snapped out of his state of bewilderment and looked up behind him to see Josh standing there, staring at him. "What?" "You're… You can't be actually… _reading!" _Drake's eyes took on a look of sarcasm and he said: "It's a story Anita wrote. I'm proof-reading it for her." "Woah! That's a laugh! You proof reading?" Josh asked. Drake sighed and began to speak to his brother, but the phone began to ring.

Instantly both brothers dropped their playfulness and turned to glance at the phone and then back to each other, with somber, slightly frightened faces. Josh began to walk toward the phone, but Drake managed to scramble up from the couch and drop his book, grabbing his brother's arm: "Josh, Wait—" Josh turned around and stared for a moment at his brother and continued: "I want to answer it. Let me answer it myself." Josh frowned and sighed, hearing the phone's ring sound over and over and finally he spoke in a soft voice: "Okay, Drake." Drake turned and walked toward the ringing telephone and paused a moment before picking it up to think. Finally he did, and put it to his ear with a slight wince and a racing heart.

"…Hello?"


	11. Soccer On The Brain

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_to the tune of "Over The Rainbow" Somewhere, over the rainbow, disclaimers die, and Drake and Josh will belong to me, not Nick, which makes me sigh. Somewhere I'll make some money and buy the rights, and then this can be an epi, and the show will soar and reach new heights. LOL._

**Note to Readers: **

_Get ready to read the longest chapter in the history of the world. ROFL, just kidding. But it is the longest chapter I've ever written. And hopefully the best written and most meaningful. Please read and review if you can, I know it took me long enough o get it done and posted, but I think it's all good. Bye now!_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Soccer on the Brain"; Eleven_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flashbacks.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** "he"s refer to the mysterious man.

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"Hello?" Drake repeated quickly, almost stumbling over his words. A click was heard on the line and it went dead. "Oh no…" Drake said, sitting down the phone and backing a few steps away. "Uh oh—what?" Josh questioned hastily, hurrying up behind his brother. Drake turned, looking at Josh and he crossed his arms, frowning and sighing jadedly: "I don't think he took you seriously when you told him to back off of me." "What? Why? Did he say something to you?" his step brother said, looking suddenly indignant. "Oh, no! But he just did the same thing as earlier—you know, call me, wait a few seconds and then—" "Wait a minute," Josh said, looking down at the phone and clicking the caller ID button: "That was _mom's_ phone." "Well why would she just hang up on me? She's not like—oh no…" Josh spoke up: "Oh no what?" "What if… what if he's like _got_ mom and dad? Or mom? Or—" "Drake, that's insane. That's like so silly! He's not _that_ powerful. He's just scared you so bad that he's got you all messed up, whoever he is." Drake's brother stopped him.

Drake smiled because of Josh's understanding that he shouldn't question him anymore about the guy: "Yeah, man, you're right. Maybe I just—"

The phone began to ring.

"There." Josh replied, smiling and crossing his arms: "See?" Drake leaned over to check the caller ID again, before answering. When he did, he nodded: "It's her again… I guess." With a quick, tired breath in, he reached out and snatched up the phone, holding it to his ear. "…Mom?"

"Drake! Hey, sorry, my phone signal cut off." "Oh, okay! I'm just glad… it's you!" "Really? Is something the matter?" Audrey laughed. "Um… no, no I'm—we're fine! So, why'd you call?" Drake asked, trying to carefully avoid the subject. "Oh, we're almost home. Just wanted to let you know we ought to be there in like three minutes. Oh, and I hope you aren't stuffing down chips or chocolate or anything, because we're bringing home Inside Out Burger food. So _don't._ Hear me, Drake?" Audrey said. Josh who heard her from a few feet away, pointed toward the phone and nodded parentally. Drake rolled his eyes and turned his back toward his brother, holding the phone closer to his ear: "Yeah, okay. If you say I shouldn't, I won't, Mom." "Good. Well, I'll see you at home, honey. Tell Josh not to eat anything either, okay?" "Okay mom. I'm sure he won't. And I won't either. Bye." Drake replied, hanging up.

He sighed and shrugged to himself, walking over to the couch and sitting down, grabbing up the half-empty bag of potato chips off of the smooth coffee table top, reaching a hand inside the bag. "Heyy!" Josh exclaimed, running over to the other side of the room where his brother was: "Get—you—hand—out—of—those—CHIPS!" He rushed over and swiped the plastic and foil bag from his brother and closed it, throwing it across the expanse of the room, through the kitchen window in to the kitchen. "Mom said not to eat those! Are you deaf?" he exclaimed, turning around to face his very disobedient brother.

When he spotted Drake, he gasped. He sat there, with a large evil grin, holding up a single, huge potato chip. Josh bit his lip as he locked glanced with his brother at the chip and then he threw his arm out suddenly, trying to catch the chip before his brother could have time to consume it.

He was surprised that he actually _caught it_ and he held tightly to it, trying to scramble away and in to the kitchen to the trash can. But Drake grabbed him first. "UH, UH! GIVE ME THE CHIP!" "I'm THROWIN' AWAY THE CHIP! Now let me go!" Josh yelped in a very 'Josh-ish' way, as his brother clung to his arm. "No! **_Give me the_**—"

The door knob jingled and Drake let go of Josh, but instead of continuing his plan of running to the kitchen, he stood still. "Hey, boys!" Walter said, walking in with Meghan and Audrey behind him. When Audrey took a few steps inside and looked up at the boys, she suddenly looked angry and she crossed her arms, glaring at Josh: "Josh, I _TOLD you _no junk food until after dinner!"

Josh frowned, looking over at the chip that he held in his hand. "Aww geez…" Then he looked up at his mother with a surprised look: "But--but Drake was--and then, then I tried to get the--and I…" He sighed and hung his head, throwing the chip away from himself and shooting a glare at Drake before looking back his mom with a tired, annoyed look: "I'm so _sorry._"

"Okay, fine. Come on and help me get the dishes out." his step mother ordered him in to the kitchen: "And Drake--pick up that chip, for goodness sakes!" As Josh and Audrey walked in to the other room through the swinging door, Drake rolled his eyes and sighed, walking over to where the food lay on the carpet. Picking it up, he looked at it before holding it up and taking a bite out of it. Shrugging, he chucked it down with a contented smile. When he turned, Walter and Meghan were staring at him with their mouths open. "Gross boy!" Meghan muttered, disgustedly. "What!" Drake replied, bending his brow. Meghan and her step father both rolled their eyes also, and said simultaneously: "_Nothing._"

"…Okay." Drake said, wincing in slightly annoyed confusement: "So, how did the thing go? At school… or where ever it was?" "It went wonderful! It was so nice of you to let Meghan borrow your costume make up kit!" Walter said, smiling. "Oh well you're welcome." Drake grinned. "Wait!" he exclaimed, suddenly dropping his happy composure in to a displeased and surprised frown: "I didn't--" "Doesn't she just look so cute in her stage make up! Everyone kept saying what a little angel she was in it!" Audrey spoke, leaning through the window and adding her bit to this puzzled conversation. "Yeah… she looks like an 'angel'…" Drake said, then muttering under his breath: "Or from somewhere a little further down." He glared at his little sister who was looking at him with an innocent syrupy-sweet look for a moment and then looked up: "Sorry, I gott'a go umm… to help Josh and Mom. Bye, _Meghan_." Drake began to walk through the swing door but looked back in time to see Meghan grinning evilly and waving in a mocking way.

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As Drake and Josh were getting ready for bed in their room that night at one thirty, they were both glad it was a Saturday the next day. If it had been a day in the week, Drake would have certainly had to go back to school. He was psychically well enough to go to school. He wasn't really that sure of being mentally and psychologically ready to go back yet, but no one seemed to care about that. Of course, Josh was really was the only one that knew the depth of Drake's problems. He had even seen him cry. _Twice._ And he was very, very worried over his brother and his well being with this "stalker", but yet he was afraid to mention it to anyone on account of hurting his step brother worse and causing him even more hard and heart aching problems.

"_But anyway_," Drake thought to himself as he combed his auburn brown hair in the mirror and waited for Josh to finish brushing his teeth: "_Maybe Josh really did scare him with his threat. Perhaps he'll really, actually give up and leave me alone for once! I guess maybe this thing isn't so much a huge problem as I thought it was._"

The two brothers began to make each other's beds once again and Drake sighed aloud, looking dreadingly at Josh's bed to which he'd been ridden for a whole week and a half. Josh, whom had just finished making up the opposite bed and who heard his brother's weary sigh, looked up and called Drake's attention: "Hey, bro!" "Huh?" Drake muttered, snapping his head up and crossing his arms, still holding that far away look in his eyes. "Umm… well, you've made a lot of progress today. I mean, you came downstairs, made it _down_ the stairs, ran around, got me in trouble--" "Your point?" Drake snapped, raising a brow. "Um, yeah beside the point," Josh murmured so quickly he could barely get the words out fast enough, closing his eyes and opening them again: "Well, I was kind of thinking, you could make a… _move_… you know?" he finished, motioning from the despised bed to Drake's old one. "You're--serious!" Drake yelped, happily. "I won't tell mom if you won't!" Josh said, shrugging: "'Cause I mean, it's been like a--"

Drake interrupted him by running across the room and flying up the ladder, taking the rungs three at a time, flinging himself in to it. "Oh! My lovely bed! I love you, my beautiful, marvelous… painful bed." Drake murmured in to his pillow, grabbing his middle from habit, but not caring if he had a bit of pain, now. Josh laughed sitting down on his own bed and saying: "Well, goodnight Drake. Enjoy your… _bedness._" with a comical wrinkle of his eyes as he then leaned over to turn off the light. Drake made no reply and Josh knew that he was already almost asleep. But then, about ten seconds later, Drake managed to moan in a hushed voice: "Divine bed." Josh chuckled and rolled his eyes in the dark, muttering a: "'Night Drake."

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Drake was dreaming deeply about being on some unknown stage, shaking his brunette mane of hair to the music, rocking out on his cherry red, signed guitar and thousands of hot girls screaming that they loved him to the top of their lungs, shrieking when he would stop and pick up a towel to wipe to perspiration from his brow and each one trying to out scream the others as they clamored around close to the foot lights of the stage.

Suddenly an alien, unwanted sound ripped through his pleasant dreams and he sat up in his bed, still half way asleep. He stood up, and took two steps in to the pitch black darkness. A scream made Josh bolt awake and he jumped up, turning on the small light over his bed. Drake was lying on the floor, his leg entangled in one of the rungs of the bed's ladder. "Drake!" Josh scolded, running over to him as he raised himself up in to a sitting position: "What the--!" "Sorry Josh. I… forgot I wasn't in your bed. So I just… stepped off of the edge." Drake muttered, trying to get up and hoping the usual fire in his ribs would soon leave him. "Why the heck is your cell ringing now! Tell me it isn't 'psycho stalker' in the middle of the night. It's freaking… 3:20am!" Josh moaned.

"Let's hope not." Drake mumbled, scrounging around in his gig back pack for the highly irritating article in question. Finally finding it, he answered: "Hello?" Again, all he heard was silence. Heavy breathing. And then, with that, the line went dead. Drake closed his eyes in aggravation and slowly hung up the call. "Oh crap."

"It's him again, isn't it?" Josh said in a quiet tone with a hint of brotherly frustration. "Yeah. It was him. I thought he was going to move on to somebody else when he didn't call earlier. But apparently, that suspicion was unfounded." Drake answered, ID-ing the call. "Fancy words!" Josh chuckled. "Josh, this is seriously, no time to be making fun of my speech." Drake growled. "Oh… sure! Sorry!" Josh said, biting his lip in slight fear of his step brother: "So… where was the call from? Another pay phone?" "…No!" Drake said, with a puzzled look scribbled on his face in the dim light: "It's a real number! 1-404-210-2192-95." "Woah. That's weird! Maybe you can block it and figure out who he is!" Josh commentated. "I will! But I know who he is…"

Josh paused, feeling the pressure in this uncomfortable moment and then said: "We'll have to look it up tomorrow. The phone number, I mean." "Yeah. Good idea." Drake nodded, closing his cellular phone: "I'm sorry for waking you up. I just didn't exactly know where I was… sleeping in your bed for like 10 days." Josh smiled and shook his head: "No, it's okay. It just scared me. I had been this like terrible dream about that dude and then when I heard you screaming--well it kind'a freaked me out." "You were having a nightmare on account of me?" Drake asked. "Yeah. I know I must be a completely pitiful wuss, but I was just so worried that I…" his sentence trailed off in to the dead silence of the night. "You were scared when you heard me scream?" Drake said, with a slightly un-believing shock on his face. "Yeah, man. You're my bro!" Josh said, blushing and looking down and back up with a little embarrassment. "Thanks Josh." Drake said, leaning forward and giving his brother a quick, thankful hug.

Josh hugged him back and they both stepped back, grinning and turning to get in to their separate beds, glad that they were still there for each other and that everything was at least somewhat returning to normal. Drake was feeling a ton better, he was up and about, and best of all-- they had their own beds back!

But something was still weighing down upon Drake's mind as he slid between the warm bed covers and laid his head wearily on his soft pillow. It was something Josh had said. That part about his being worried and scared for Drake. The teenager didn't understand why, but that thought kept rolling over and over in his brain.

"_He said he was having bad dreams because of me. And he was worried. Because of me. Perhaps I'm actually causing more pain for him by not telling him about this? Am I really causing somebody else pain?_" He didn't care too much for that thought. He certainly didn't want to hurt somebody else. And maybe he really _had_ been thinking about himself more than other people. He hadn't thought he was. But now he didn't see anything with clarity anymore. Everything was so hard and complicated. He didn't really know what to do about this predicament, but he knew that perhaps soon he'd find the answers. The answers to everything. The answers to his childhood questions. The questions that still haunted his mind like undying ghosts from the past. Yes. He wanted those answers, now.

Sighing, he rubbed his cheek against the silky soft cotton pillow case and closed his eyes, letting dark overtake them and curling up under the comforter snugly. It'd be okay. And somehow he'd find a way to make it okay. He was sure of it.

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Drake's eyes blinked open and he lay staring at the ceiling. The room was relatively dim, and Drake knew that it must only be six thirty or seven. He didn't really understand why he was awake. Usually he was very lazy and if he could, he would have slept until around three or four in the afternoon. But now he didn't even feel tired. He sighed, feeling the bruises on his arm and his leg from falling off of his bed the night before.

He came out of his contemplation and sat up on his elbows, looking across the room and finding Josh not in his bed. "_What time is it, anyway?_" Drake looked over at his clock on his tiny bedside table. It said that it was sixty forty five. He frowned, dropping back down in to his soft sheets and pillows. He _wanted_ to sleep some more--and awful lot more--but he couldn't seem to drift back under its influence. He moaned, annoyed, and buried his face in his pillow. He had a nagging feeling of urgency, a feeling that something was wrong. He wondered if this is why he couldn't go back to sleep. He also wondered why he felt this way, and why Josh was up and out of bed so early on a Saturday.

He finally give up on trying go to sleep and he got up out of his bed, jumping down to the floor on which he'd stumbled last night, but wishing he had taken the ladder instead when the pain in his joints began to throb. He shook it off and went to brush his teeth quickly. He didn't really care for brushing his teeth, or anything else. He had always been the little disobedient child when he was little.

He finished the daunting task and look up in the mirror, grimacing. His hair was all messed up from being in bed. Or, that is, _he_ thought it was messed up. To anyone else it would have looked fine, but Drake being a perfectionist in this area, would have it no other way than of course, perfect.

He quickly scooped up the brush off of the counter and ran it through his hair, but frowning suddenly when he tried to pull the brush away from his head. It was stuck! He pulled hard, but he looked up close in the mirror and spotted the problem-- purply pink goop was stuck in it and therefore it was firmly glued to his silky brown locks. "I like your new hairstyle." Meghan's voice laughed from the doorway. Drake made his eyes narrow in to tiny slits and he growled, turning from the mirror and letting go of the object, letting it stick by itself to his head as he ran after his demonic sister, down the hall.

She shrieked as they ran down the stairs and he kept reaching out, trying to catch her within his grasp. "MEGHAN PARKER, YOU'RE GOING TO PAY WITH YOUR LITTLE EVIL LIFE FOR THIS!" her brother shouted after her, reaching out and trying to grab her own long, straight brown hair when they ran full speed in to the living room from the hall.

Suddenly Walter grabbed Meghan in front of Drake and a pair of hands clutched his shoulders tightly, as both his step-father and the unseen person behind Drake spoke: "DRAKE! MEGHAN!" Drake plucked the hands from his shoulders and spun around, catching Josh in his view. He ignored him and turned to his father: "DAD, Meghan put some stupid purple gunk in to my hair brush and now I can't get the darned thing off of my head!" Drake yelled, trying with both hand to pry the problematic brush from his hair. "Drake, I'm sure Meghan didn't do that. You need to stop being so accusatory. Now what's this about the brush?" Walter said. "It's--stuck!" Drake exclaimed, disgustedly pointing to the article sticking out from his head. "Well, for goodness sakes, get upstairs and get in the shower and get it out. Don't bother you're mother with this ridiculous bickering. She's on the verge of having a mental breakdown right now! Have some compassion for her!" Walter said in an annoyed and hushed tone, pushing Drake and Josh back toward the stairs. As the brothers began to climb the steps toward their room upstairs, they heard Walter tell Meghan to go play in her room. Then, right before Drake stepped in to he and his brother's room, he barely heard Audrey's cracking voice say: "I can't believe he's gone-- just like that! Just... gone."

Drake took a few more slow steps in to his bedroom, wearing a frown when he couldn't hear any thing else. What did his mother mean? Who's gone? Did someone die? Who! The questions never seemed to stop spinning in Drake's head, even as he stepped in to the hot water of the shower and began the rough and tedious journey of pulling the brush and his brunette mop apart. In fact, being alone like this with out any interruptions made him think about it even harder! What in the world was his mother speaking about? There was certainly something going on this cloudy, early morning other than Meghan's stupid pranks. Something distressing, too, apparently. But _what_ it was, was the question. The highly unanswered question.

Drake hurried to get the brush from his hair and get out from the shower, though the warm water was very cozy and comforting, because he was now nearly dieing to know what all the fuss and fret and tension in the house was about.

"Hey! Josh!" Drake said, catching his brother's sleeve as he walked past him in the downstairs hall, after Drake had dressed, dried his hair and come down: "Wait up! What's happened?" Josh swerved back around and took a long look at his brother: "Oh! Hey Drake. Umm... what do you mean?" "Now Josh, don't mess with me! I know that you know exactly what I'm talking about. _What's wrong with Mom?_" Drake said, gripping Josh's arm a little tighter, emphasizing his need to know the answer. Josh sighed and looked at Drake's questioning, deep brown eyes for a serious moment before speaking: "...Do you want to know, really?" "Of course I do! I'm so worried that I'm almost shaking! Now, _tell!" _

_"_Well... seems your great Uncle Gavin died unexpectedly last night. Mom is really upset. She told me he had been so kind to her. I'm sorry. Did you know him?" Josh answered soberly. "Great Uncle Gavin? No. I never knew him. But I've heard of him so much it feels that I almost knew him. That's... terrible." Drake said slowly, cupping a hand over his chin and bottom lip. He wasn't so upset to actually cry. Josh had expected him to cry, only from the fact that he had seen his brother cry so much about lesser things than death, lately. But Drake just frowned deeply and seemed to be in an almost hypnotic thought process. "Why didn't Dad tell me when I came downstairs earlier?" he asked, almost making Josh just because he suddenly came out of the still silence that he had been so deeply in only a moment ago. "Well... it wasn't really that much of an opportune time, was it? You with a gooey brush sticking out of your hair, trying to maim Meghan." he replied, causing Drake to bring a tiny hint of a smile at the corners of his lips. "Yeah. That wasn't exactly the right time, I guess." On a darker, more serious note, Drake said: "...Should I go see Mom?"

Before his step brother could manage to bring the words from his lips, their father appeared quickly beside the two boys. "Drake, Josh," his voice was quieter: "I believe your mother wants to see you for a minute about funeral arrangements." Turning to Drake, his step father questioned him gently: "Do you know about your Un--" "Yeah, dad. I know already. Tell mom we'll be right there in like just a second." Drake nodded, replying quickly so Walter didn't have to finish the slightly depressing sentence. "Okay, son. Thanks." the grown man said, patting the shoulder or each son and winking re-assuringly before stepping through the door way of the hall in to the living room. "Josh... what do I say to her? She's gonn'a be so upset and sad! I don't know how to deal with that." Drake said in a slightly worried and anxious whisper as they both walked slowly toward the living room, where their mother and father waited. "Just say what your heart feels. If you're sorry for her, say so. And by the way... hugs aren't bad either." Josh nodded. "Believe me, of all people, you've taught me that well, Josh." Drake said, slipping his brother a little smile and a squeeze of the arm before they rounded the corner and came in to the room.

"Hey... Mom?" Drake said, in a voice that he hardly knew he had. It was full of sweetness and soft compassion. He walked by himself over to the couch and Audrey brushed a tear away to turn and look at him: "Yes, Drake?" He stared at her for a moment, wondering what in the world he could say to her. Finally he shook his head at himself and bent, dropping on to the couch beside her and throwing his sore arms around her neck, with a kind hug. He held her tight and he said: "It'll be okay. Really it will." He wondered to himself how he had managed to say those words in such a certain and confidant tone, when _he himself_ hardly even believed them. He really didn't know if it would be "okay" or not. And what if it wasn't? He shook off his once again building thoughts, to bring his mind back to his mother. She was hugging him hard and he knew that she was only holding back tears for his sake.

The mother and son finally parted the embrace and he patted her shoulder with a little smile: "Don't worry mom. I'm here for you. And Josh is too. Aren't we, Josh?" Reaching out, he caught his brother's arm and brought him also closer to the couch. "Of course we are, Mom." "Thank you, boys. You don't know what that means to me. It just means so much that I can't even describe. But I need you to do something for me. I need your help more now, than anytime else, Drake. And you too Josh. Your father and I are going to fly over to Colorado for the funeral in about three hours. We'll be gone until late tomorrow night. Maybe midnight or later. But I want you two boys to help me out by watching Meghan until we get back and taking her to soccer practice today. Okay?" Drake and Josh exchanged quick, uncontrollable glances of uneasy indecision.

"Is it a deal, boys?" Walter asked, after a moment. With one more glance of dread between the brothers, they both nodded and Drake replied: "Yeah, dad. It's a deal." "Thank you both so, so very much. That's a tremendous help. I'm leaving a notepad on the front of the refrigerator that says when Meghan is supposed to be where and that lists all the numbers that you two can reach us at, just incase anything goes wrong." "Good, because we'll definitely be needing those..." Josh muttered under his breath, where only Drake could hear. Drake nodded slightly in reply to his step brother and then said: "Hey, Mom, do you need anything else? Because until you leave, I have nothing to do." "No, Drake. I'm fine. Just you and your brother go on upstairs and hang out until we have to leave. I'll be okay." Audrey replied, with a forced smile. "Sure, Mom." Josh and Drake nodded simultaneously and they smiled, pausing for a moment before running off up the stairs, to their room. They were nearly bursting at the seams to talk to each other about this plague that they'd been assigned-- taking care of Meghan for almost forty hours straight. This very thought was frightening to both of them and they knew that unless they we VERY, very careful, they'd be in for a painful night of agony and pranks.

"Can you believe that Meghan is staying here!" Drake exclaimed, first, after closing their door tightly behind them. "Can you believe we have to "_take care of her_"!" Josh yelped, crossing his arms and staring at Drake. "No! I can't! And this is just great. We can't say no to watching her! Mom would be like totally upset and probably burst in to hysterics or something!" his step brother answered with a look of disgusted anxiety drawn in to his deeply furrow brow. "Just think—like _forty hours_ of being alone with… **_Meghan._**" Josh said in a deep voice, staring in to space with a frightened glare. "How are we like going to survive that long of supposedly "taking care" of her?" Drake questioned worriedly. "We're gonn'a need somebody to take care'a us!" Josh whined, in a tired and agitated tone.

"Oh boy… this day is going to be interesting." Drake sighed, shaking his head and sitting on the couch: "And I have a feeling that the purple gunk in my brush wasn't the only thing on the menu today. It was only the _beginning._"

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Josh and his brother stood at the edge of the front door. The time was around nine o'clock and the skies were misted with dewy gray rain clouds. "Are you sure you have everything?" Josh asked, setting a bag down on the gravelly cement walkway. "Yes, I'm almost positive. I packed everything, I think." Audrey said, seeming a bit flustered. Just as Walter went to put the bags in the car, a bit of sunlight splinted through the clouds over head. "Oh, good. Atleast the sun is coming out. Then you can still take Meghan to soccer practice." Audrey commented, looking up with a tiny bit of a smile, at the sun drifting through the sky. "Yeah…" Drake murmured, trying to sound optimistic, which was one of the few things he wasn't good at, at all. "Maybe your plane rid will be a nicer one too, now that the sun's out a little." Josh replied, kindly. "Yes, hopefully it will be." their mother nodded, and Walter re-joined the tiny group. "Honey, we had better go—we have to be on that plane at exactly 10:35, and with traffic and the checking before we get to board, we haven't much time." he said, taking her arm and beginning to drag her along. "Oh, wait Walter!" she said, turning to the boys one more time: "Tell Meghan that I said goodbye and tell her not to worry, that we'll both be back when she wake up the day after tomorrow." Drake and Josh nodded, slowly, barely being able to hold back their deep grimaces from their lips.

"Well, Goodbye Drake, dear." she said, kissing his cheek and then turned toward Josh: "Goodbye, Josh, sweetheart." "Take care boys!" Walter said, dragging Audrey off and waving to them as they got in to the car.

And with that, they were gone. Drake and Josh sighed at the same time and both turned to walk back through the door way, in to the almost empty house. Drake stepped toward the couch and sat down, leaning back deeply in to the seat. "So… their gone. Where do you think Meghan is?" Josh asked, sitting beside his brother. "I don't know… probably planning some crazy scheme to use on us, like usual." Drake said, sitting up and turning the tv off. Both boys sat still and listened for a moment, trying to hear what Meghan was doing, but their efforts were pointless—everything was completely silent.

"Maybe we should go check? I mean, what if she's like—" "You go check. But if I were you, I'd leave her alone. If she _is_ planning something and she catches you snooping, we'll both be in even more danger." Drake replied, shaking his head and getting up to go in to the kitchen for a snack.

After a few minutes, Drake came back and sat down, with a bag of "Bugles" and a soft drink. "Drake, what if Meghan really will _behave _this time?" Josh asked quietly. "Ha! Are you kidding me?" Drake laughed, throwing a handful of crispy chips in to his mouth and gulping them down. "Yeah… I guess we had better expect the worse then." Josh shuddered, sinking lower in to the couch's puffy pillows. Suddenly they both tensed up and glanced at each other when a sound came from the opposite side of the room. "Hey, boobs…" Meghan exclaimed from the doorway of the hall, making them turn around to look at her.

"…So, Mom and Dad gone?" she said, walking toward the couch as a slithery, evil smile slipped to her lips and her eyes filled with wicked amusement. "Umm… yeah. They just left a few minutes ago." Drake answered, slowly, with a skeptical look on his face, expecting her to do something any moment now. But instead of doing anything, she sat on the couch, between them and picked up the remote, turning on the tv. Drake and Josh traded amazed and shocked, gaping mouthed frowns, and they both stood to their feet and walked away, not wanting to antagonize her in to doing anything that they could help.

Drake and his brother were in their room, later, waiting for Meghan to pounce at any moment. But nothing ever came. Josh opened his desk drawer to get out a pencil, but no ink or toothpaste squirted at him. Drake sat down in the computer chair and was surprised when he stood up and realized that he wasn't stuck to it.

"Say, Drake… she still hasn't done anything!" Josh said after a while, as he sat at the computer and Drake lay down on the couch, strumming away leisurely at his red fender Stratocaster guitar. "Yeah, I know." He nodded, thinking for a moment before continuing on: "Maybe you were right—I mean, maybe Meghan really _can_ be fairly… good!" Josh shook his head: "It's amazing." "Yeah! She's always been so evil… even when she was little. Once when she was 5, she put worms in—" "I get the picture." Josh interrupted. "Well, anyway, perhaps she finally got tired of being bad!" "Yeah—Who knew!" Drake's step brother laughed, shrugging. "Well… I guess maybe this retaining thirty seven and a half hours won't be so bad after all!" Drake said, glancing at his watch. Josh paused for a moment then shuddered violently: "Meghan being _good_! Ehh! That's just… wrong." "But nice!" his brother cut in. "Amen, brotha!" he nodded, raising a hand quickly.

"HEYY!" Meghan's voice yelled through the walkie-talkie: "Yo, spazzes!" Drake and his brother ran over and Drake picked it up, clicking the "talk" button. "Quit yelling! What is it, Meghan?" "I want you down here NOW." she growled. "Why?" Josh said, with a superior chuckle. "BECAUSE YOU FREAKS ARE MAKING ME MAD! I want you down here to get me ice cream and a soda and I want you down here NOW." "Why should we do--" "_Get. Down. Here. Now._" she growled in one of her most frightening tones. "Fine!" Drake said in to the microphone, smirking and rolling his eyes, grabbing Josh and dragging his along, down the hall and down the flight of stairs, in to the living room.

"You beckoned, your highness?" Josh said, sarcastically when they reached Meghan's side as she lay back on the couch. "Yeah. I want you to get me--" Drake interrupted her quickly: "We both heard you already. But why should we have to do what ever _you_ want?" "Because I _said so!" _she said, matter-of-factly. "Oh, and that suddenly makes us obligated to be your obedient slaves?" Drake replied to her, sarcastically. "Drake… just wondering about something. Do you _happen_ to remember what I did to you when Mom and Dad went to LA for the weekend?" Drake paused and then dropped his slightly flippant attitude: "…What's your point?" "My point, Mister Parker, is simply this," she said, grabbing his arm and wrenching it backward: "That I can be very painful if I want to. I hope your tiny brain can retain that much information." "Oww! Oww, Meghan! Oww let me go!" Drake gasped, trying to pull his arm from the highly uncomfortable position. "Okay, _Drake._" Meghan said with a sassy slant in her words, yanking his arm with one last jerk and then letting him go, crossing her arms.

Josh was staring in silent amazement, with his mouth hanging open in a gape. A quiet minute passed after Drake began rubbing his sore arm and Meghan then let a proud, slimy smile glide on to her face: "Ice cream, please." Drake moaned in aggravation and he and Josh walked in to the kitchen.

"How did she ever get like that?" Josh exclaimed, shaking his head in awe. "Let's just say she has a certain… _gift._" Drake nodded back in reply, as he took the ice cream carton out from the freezer. "I kind of noticed." Josh chuckled for a second: "But man, how the heck are we going to manage her for a whole other day and a half?" "Good question. It ticks me off so bad that she gets away with almost anything and yet we get in trouble for the slightest thing! It's so unfair! And angering!" Drake answered. Josh sighed, nodding: "Now you know what it feels like to be me." Drake rolled his eyes in annoyance and said: "That's beside the point. We have to figure out some way to get through this next thirty seven hours with out her killing us first." "I know. I'm just about sick of little Miss "Precious" trying to make our lives miserable." his brother thought aloud.

"You know how we're going to do it?" Drake said, forming a evilly sly smile of his own. "No, how!" Josh gasped, turning to looked at him fully. "Sneakily." "Sneakily?" "Yeah. I mean wait… is that a word?" Drake said, stopping to think this over. "Well, I think it might be. But I _know _"sneaky" and "sneaking" are words but--" Drake shook himself out of it, interrupting his brother: "_Anyway,_ we're going to prank her… but only in a way that can be explained as "an accident"." "Accident? Ooooh! I _see! _Josh likey!…" the other brother nodded, narrowing his eyes.

"Here, Meghan. I hope you like your stupid ice cream." Drake said with irritation in his voice, as he played along with his own plan. "I'm sure I _will_, boob." she remarked back, glaring and taking the bowl. Drake and Josh stepped quickly back in to the kitchen. "Watch this, Josh… she'll start yelling _any moment now._" Drake chuckled, waiting for only a moment before they both heard it.

"AHHH! **_DRAKE! JOSH!_**" she screamed, louder than ever. "DRAKE--JOSH--GET IN HERE NOW!" Drake and Josh had to suppress the laughter and hide their deep smiles, composing themselves before stepping in to the living room. "What's the matter?" "What is it?" the two boys asked, both pasting the faux worried look on their expressions as they ran up to the couch. "**_Okay._** _Which of you **idiots** put barbeque sauce in my ice cream!" _she barked in a deep, earth-shattering tone. "What!" Drake exclaimed, "Barbeque sauce?" "Yes, moron, that is what I _said_." she snarled. "I guess I must have accidentally grabbed the wrong bottle out of the 'fridge when I went to get the chocolate topping! I was talking to Josh and I just didn't realize--" The very angry girl interrupted him with out one inkling of shame: "You had better pray on _your knees _that it was an accident, Drake Parker. Do you _hear me!_" "I didn't mean to." Drake shrugged, innocently. She grabbed the bowl off of the coffee table top and stomped to the kitchen. Josh and his brother could hear the hugely loud clang of the plastic bowl hitting the steel sink as she threw it in and stomped back out from the tiny room. "I'm going to my room." she growled, pausing to wave a finger in the air: "And if either of you nuts cases try to get in up there, you're **_dead._** Remember that and remember it with every fiber of each of your pathetic little beings." With that morbid thought she left them and was gone.

Drake and Josh treasured that tiny victory for the rest of the afternoon and couldn't even stop for five minutes hardly, with out starting to talk about it again, once more. They laughed about it and sat around watching tv and eating junk food until around four pm. Then it happened.

Drake was sitting with his step brother, leisurely as they both watched a re-run of "Millionaire" and chewed on a few pieces of black licorice from Drake's infamous candy stash. They were reveling in the thought of actually having been able to pull a effective prank on the un prank able. Though small as putting Barbeque sauce in her ice cream was, it was something they both felt very proud of. Drake took his eyes away from the television set just long enough to glance at Josh and remark on the "obvious" answer of the question that the contestant was supposed to be answering. But when he was half way through his sentence, he suddenly stopped speaking, flinging a hand to the top of his head quickly and wearing a surprised face. "Josh… am I loosing it?" he asked quickly. "Well, I don't know! Why?" his brother quipped. "Well… what I mean is, would I be considered insane if I suddenly keep feeling drops of water plopping down on my head?" "Umm… probably I would say… yes." Josh laughed, but then abruptly cutting it out with a look of startled shock: "Or I'm loosing it too!"

They looked over at each other and then simultaneously bending back to stare up at the ceiling. When they saw what was there to behold them, they both gasped, their chins nearly dropping to the floor. Both brothers scrambled up from the couch and jumped across the room and through the hall, up the stairs. "Meghan! What have you done!" Drake shouted as the two reached the bathroom.

Water was over-flowing out of the already full bath-tub and sinking through the flimsy calk in between the tile on the floor, now covered in half an inch of water. "MEGHAN!" they both shouted. She came from her room and when she got to the edge of the bathroom, she just glared at them: "Now why did you guys do that! There's going to even be water downstairs, _now_!" "You know good and well that we had nothing to do with this, you little--" She once again cut Josh off with a devious smirk: "I'd turn off the water if I were you."

Both boys eyes got big and they almost tripped over each other on the slippery floor, ask the both darted for the faucet. After their feat of controlling the faucet was completed, Meghan looked at them after a silent moment and said: "I'd get some paper towels, If I were you." "Well if you were me, you'd want to _put your hands around your neck!" _Drake snapped, with a deeply annoyed tone, making her scurry from the doorway. "You know, she's right… we're definitely gonn'a be needing some paper towels and--" Drake glared at Josh, making his halt his words. "Don't _talk._" his brother replied slowly, grabbing a towel from the counter and throwing it to the floor in disgust and stepping on it to soak up the liquid. But he didn't need to step on it-- the instant it hit the floor, it was filled with water.

"Megh-AN!" Drake's highly agitated voice screamed. She slowly walked back in to the room with an evil smile, but dropped it before she stepped inside. "What?" "Get some paper towels, PRONTO!" Drake said. "Why should I do that?" she frowned. "Because if you don't I'm going to get the scissors and show you how _I_ _style hair!" _Drake exclaimed, with the scariest face Meghan had ever seen him make. She ran out of the room to get paper towels, but not because she was afraid of him. Just so that she could save up his trust. Then later she'd pull something big.

A minute or two later, she appeared in the door way once more: "Here." Drake watched as she threw two paper towels in to the standing water on the floor, making them instantly sopping wet. Drake let out a growl and Josh restrained him from coming after her. "Thanks, Meghan." Josh replied with a bit of sarcasm: "Be _useful _and tell me what time it is." She rolled her eyes and looked down at her watch, clicking a tiny button. "Time is precisely four fifteen and forty five seconds." the automated, digital voice spoke. Drake and Josh looked at each other in confusion for a moment and then looked back at the watch, shrugging after a little while. They began to both soak up the water on the floor with towels, but the suddenly Drake gasped and looked up, jumping up from the floor: "Did you say four fifteen!" Meghan glared at him and said with deep sarcasm in her voice: "No, my _watch _said it, ya' boob." "Whatever! Josh, go down and look at the notepad on the refrigerator and see what time Meghan has to be at soccer!" he exclaimed, turning to his brother. "Okay!" Josh said, standing up slowly and walking from the room. "RUN!" Drake yelled. "Runnin'!" Josh gasped, taking off down the stairs.

"Drake! _Drake!" _Josh screamed a few minutes later running full speed up those same steps. "What!" Drake exclaimed, jumping up from the floor and running out in to the hall. "Drake!" Josh panted, bending down for a moment to catch his breath as he reached his brother. "Josh, what? What!" Drake repeated, grabbing his brother by the shoulders, frantically. "We have to be there at four forty five!" Josh gasped. "What!" he yelped, his eyes growing big. "FOUR FORTY FIVE!" the brother said, loudly, but barely getting it out before a shrill, blood-chilling scream shattered through the air and Drake took off back toward the bathroom.

Josh followed and when the two reached the doorway, they moaned. Meghan had fallen in to the still-full bathtub and was soaking wet from head to toe. Not to mention that her heavy impact in the water when she fell, caused a water fall to rush over the edge of the tub and drench the almost-dry floor fully. The two brothers stood still, just staring with wide-open mouths.

"Ugh…" Meghan moaned with a cracking voice: "Get me out of here, guys!" Josh and Drake rushed over and yanked her out of the bathtub and they pushed her in to her room: "Dry off and get in to your soccer uniform, quick, Meghan." Drake said, grabbing Josh and yanking him in to the hall. Before Josh stepped in to the bathroom, he paused in the door way and looked back at Drake with a confused frown: "Drake?" "Yeah?" "Did she just call us 'guys'?" Drake sighed and pushed his brother through the door and left him to go down stairs to get the mop and a few bath towels.

He grabbed the items and was running through the living room, about to slip in to the hall and up the stairs, but he quickly stopped in his tracks at the sound of the phone ringing. "Oh no…" he moaned, turning on his heel and hurrying over to the ringing object. He set down the towels and the mop that he had, on the table and picked up the phone: "…_Hello?_"

"Hey, Dwake! It's Wynn." came the unexpected answer. "Oh, no, no, no…" Drake murmured. "You say something, dear?" Lyn asked. "What--! Um, no… I said--nothing. What did you call me?" Drake said in reply, quickly. "Dear. Why? Is there a probwem with that?" she replied in a syrupy sweet tone. "Umm… look, I really--" Drake began to make his excuse to leave, but she cut him off: "Oh, Dwake…" she paused to giggle girlishly and then went on: "I know what your twying to say… I wike you too. _A wot. _And if you wike me wike I wike you… then how abowt--"

"DRAAAAAKE!" Josh's voice yelled helplessly to the top of his lungs. Drake, without thinking, and being incredibly happy to have an excuse to get off of the phone, hung up and raced up the stairs. "DRAAAKE! AAHH! DRAKE!" his brother shouted loudly. Running in the general direction of the screaming and other noises, Drake reached Meghan's room and threw open the door to find Josh tied to the bar in her closet. Looking over at her, he rushed in to the room and over to Josh and began to un-tie him: "Meghan, this is no time to be tying Josh to your closet! You can do it later when we have time!"

Josh glared ask Drake ripped his bonds loose, and exclaimed: "_Drake!"_ "What time is it?" Drake gasped, tired from running up the stairs. "Four twenty seven!" Josh yelped in reply after looking at his watch. "Crap! Come on, Meghan!" Josh's brother said, reaching out and grabbing her arm, dragging her down the hall and stairs, with the other brother not far behind. "Um, Drake!" Meghan exclaimed, ripping her arm from her brother: "Hel-_lo!"_ "What!" came the exasperated reply. "My hair is WET!" Meghan exclaimed. "So?" "So it's not _dry!"_ she complained, rolling her eyes as Drake snatched up his car keys and wallet from the table. "Deal with it!" he said, shrugging and pulling her and her step brother across the living room and out the garage door.

He jumped over in the driver's seat and hardly waited for anyone to get buckled in to their seats before squealing out of the cement drive-way. "Dude, Drake, PLEASE be careful driving. I don't want you in another wreck and now even _Meghan's _in the car." Josh warned, watching the speedometer rise quickly past sixty miles an hour. "Man, it's okay! I got it all under control." Drake said, settling down in his seat. "Well, good… because we have to be there in ten minutes." Josh added. Just then, his teenage brother's cell phone began to ring. "Oh, great." Drake muttered, closing his eyes for a split second and then grabbing up the phone.

"Yeah?" he spoke in to it, wearily. "Hi, Drake. How's my guy feeling today?" "Anita? Hi! I'm so glad it's you. I'm alright. I'd be… _better_ if you were here." "Oh, boy!" Josh moaned, slapping his forehead in annoyance at Drake's manner. "Be quiet, spaz." Drake whispered to Josh. This made Meghan laugh and she scuffed up her brother's hair from behind him: "_Good boy_." "She's taught you well, hasn't she?" Josh said to Drake with narrowed eyes. "HUSH!" Meghan hissed, giving his seat a swift kick, making him moan an "Oww".

"Of course I miss you… I haven't seen you in almost five days!" Drake smiled. "…And?" Josh said underneath his breath. "Aww, no. You're sweet." Drake's step brother bit his lip and crossed his arms, trying with all his might to restrain himself from acting out in irritation. Of all the times to be flirting it up with his girlfriend, Drake picked NOW! When they had to be at soccer practice in like five minutes!

"Me? Oh, I'm not really doing anything right now. Aww… really? …Well--" Josh couldn't hold it back any longer. He grabbed Drake's cell from his ear and before his brother could react, he held it to his own and said: "Well, Drake's got to go, _BYE!"_ And with that, he hung up.

"Josh! WHY DID--" "_Turn left, boob!" _Meghan exclaimed, also treating Drake to an ample kick in the seat. He stopped his yelling and turned the left so quick that the tired squealed. "Gosh, Drake, what is your problem! You're driving like that could get us all killed or--" "I don't need a lecture, Josh!" Drake muttered, turning again in to the San Diego Park's parking lot, near the playing field.

Forty-five minutes later, Drake and Josh were still sitting on the bleachers, watching Meghan practice with the rest of the team. "Uhh…" Drake shivered, wrapping his light jacket tighter around himself: "Is this ever going to end?" "Aww, Drake, don't be such a complainer. It will only last maybe fifteen or twenty more minutes and then you can go back home and continue on… stuffing your face with potato chips or whatever you do." Drake mumbled a groan under his breath and then hunched over, drawing the coat tighter around his body: "Okay, fine, Mr. Video Games, we're even! …Weirdo. If I ever stopped 'stuff my face', that'd be the day you'd start working out, which _apparently _will never happen!"

And suddenly, from almost no where, a soccer ball came flying and with a loud "smack", it plowed right in to Drake's head, knocking his backwards, off the seat and back on to the bleacher's floor behind him. "HAHA! Serves you right, Mr. Patata Head!" Josh replied, "And next time why don't ya just—" He suddenly flew back and like Drake, landed on the ground between the seats as another soccer ball rolled around beside him. Drake let out a some what injured but amused laugh and said: "Who's laughin' now, Super Mario?"

Before Josh could reply with a growl, the laughter of a familiar young girl's voice filled the air. Both boys stood up and looked at each other, muttering a "_Meghan!" _The girl tilted her head briefly to the side in a taunting manner and then ran back off to finish practice. "Why in the world did we EVER think Meghan would be good, again!" Josh asked quickly. "I don't even want to think about it. I guess she's just evil to the core." "And bad ta the bone." Josh sang in a deep, sing-song tone. "Yeah. Fish gott'a swim, birds gott'a fly. And Meghan's gott'a… be Meghan and torment us until we die." Drake sighed, crossing his arms and resuming his seat on the bench. "A-_men._" Josh nodded, sitting down beside his brother and then whispering to him: "And Lo'd help us for the rest of the day and a half alone with her."


	12. Hang On

Trouble may hound us,

Shadows surround us.

_Never mind, no fear._

_Don't be down hearted, when we get started,_

_**They will disappear.**_

_**Listen to brother,**_

_While we've each other,_

_There's no pain, I hear._

**For like peas in a pod,**

**We will prove it's not hard.**

If you hang on to me,

While I hang on to you,

We'll find our way to the sunshine,

Out of the rain.

_Forever and a day._

**That's right, hold tight, **

**We're on our way,**

It's clear, It's clear,

_**We'll loose the shadows. **_

If you'll hang on to me,

While I hang on to you,

**We'll find our way to the sunshine,**

**Out of the rain.**

_If you'll just simply hang on to me._

_Hang on to me._

While I hang on tight to you.

To you.

_We'll loose the shadows,_

_And find our way._

_Forever and a day._

© Excerpts copyright, Fred Astaire, 1926 – 2005, Lyrics revised by Morgan May, 2005.


	13. Getting Critical

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_If you think I own anything, go to the nearest psychiatrist. Please. As a service to all humanity. _

**Note to Readers: **

_Okay, kids, over 6,000 words! And suspenseful words, too! That's a good thing, right? LOL, hope so. Read and PLEASE review. I'm starting to doubt that this story is any good at all!_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Getting Critical"; Thirteen_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flashbacks.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** "he"s refer to the mysterious man.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888

"Oooohhhh..." moaned Josh and his brother simultaneously, as they drug themselves through the door of their home. "I'm so _tired!"_ Drake muttered, in a whiney voice. "Dude, you're not the only one!" "Why are you guys tired?" Meghan laughed, with a frown on her face as she ran in to the house and stripped off her jacket. "Well, I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with that fact that you _hit us in the head with soccer balls!"_ Drake exclaimed. "And then made us take you to Chucky Cheddar's!" "_AND_ then made us take you to play mini golf!" Both boys countered her. With a malevolent grin, she shrugged and said: "Whatever. I'm going up to my room to play ZBOX. _Bye, bye._" With that, she turned on her heel and waltzed out of the room, toward the steps. "ZBOX? What little girl has a ZBOX!" Josh exclaimed, throwing himself tiredly on the couch beside his brother, who was already sitting down. "_Meghan little girl_ does." Drake mumbled, closing his eyes. "But I don't remember Mom and Dad getting her one!" Josh said, in confusion. "And who said they had to? Remember the sheep? And the zebra? And the—" "Gotcha." Josh nodded, cutting him off and lying tiredly back in to the seat.

A moment of silence passed and Drake had almost forgotten that he was on the couch, not in his bed, he was so sleepy. "Aww… man." Josh's voice spoke, waking the reluctant Drake finally up. "Ugh. What?" "I forgot—I gott'a look up that phone number from that call you got last night." His brother replied, getting up from beside him and walking a few steps across the room. "Naw, man, it's fine. It was probably just a wrong number. Don't bother." Drake added, waving his hand. "I'm gonn'a go look it up anyway. I just feel like it. It won't leave my mind." "Okay!" Drake shrugged with a good-natured laugh: "Whatever you say!" Josh started again and was almost to the door to the hall when his brother said: "Hey! Wait up!" As he rose from the couch and walked quickly, nearing up beside him, he continued: "I'm come with you and watch." "Why?" Josh questioned with a little laugh. "Because of two reasons." "And those are…?" "One--if I lay on that couch any longer, I'll fall asleep. And two-- it's better to stay together with Meghan in the house alone. It's _much safer._" his step brother answered. "Good point." Josh nodded, as they both turned back and hurried up the flight of stairs, once in the hall.

They made sure to be careful when they walked in to their room, highly aware that Meghan could have easily had time to rig some prank in there before they arrived. "Watch out for booby traps. …No pun intended." Josh said, making Drake giggle. "What!" he asked the amused teen ager. "Ohh… nothin'." Drake said, chuckling and whisking a strand of amber brunette hair from his playfully glittering brown eyes.

Josh walked across the space of the room, slowly, toward the computer, but was careful to watch every step he made, not wanting at all to get smacked with a pie, or tripped with a length of wire. But thankfully, he made it to the computer and felt the chair before sitting down, just to make sure there was no glue in it this time: "I think that path is okay to walk through, Drake. Come on over here." Drake sighed in relief and walked across the floor with out any delays.

As his step brother leaned his crossed arms over a stool beside the desk and leaned over to watch, Josh turned on the computer and signed on to the internet. "Oh boy. Stupid dial up. Man, we really need to order high speed broad band. Look how long it's taking to pull up the white pages!" Drake said, pointing to the indeed slow computer and shaking his head. "You have that right. Maybe I can convince Mom and Dad to buy it for us when they get back from the funeral." his brother agreed. "Oh, no, no. _ I will_ do the job of convincing them. No offense but… you have absolutely _no_ powers of persuasion." Drake laughed. Josh managed a deep scowl and decided to say nothing in response, but instead turning to look back at the monitor. "Hallelujah, it finally loaded!" the other boy murmured.

"Hey, dude, what was that number again?" Josh asked, waiting to type it in to the search. "Uh, hold on and I'll see." The thin teenager slipped from his post at the stool and strode to where his cell phone sat on top his messy bed comforter. He performed the very familiar task of pulling up the caller ID and then jumping down from the ladder and returning to his brother's side, he spoke: "Ready?" "Yep." "Okay. It's 1-4-0-4-2-1-0-2-1-9-2-9-5." Josh typed for a silent moment and then Drake asked: "Did'ya get it all?" "Sure did." his step brother nodded.

"Well… the moment of truth. The answer is only a click of an enter key away." Both brothers sighed anxiously and then Josh spoke up: "Want to do us the honor, Drake?" "Well… okay! Here goes nothing." he answered, his finger nearing the key. With a quick deep breath, he pushed it down and pulled his hand back, covering his eyes: "…What do the results say?" All was quiet a moment and then Drake felt Josh grab the hand that covered his eyes. When his vision cleared in only a moment, he saw his brother sitting there, pointing at the screen: "You don't have to worry." "Why? Was it a wrong number like I thought?" "No, yah dope! I don't know _what_ it was _yet._ DIAL UP, remember!" Josh sighed in slight annoyance. "Oh… yeah. Well, it had better load faster than usual because other wise I'm going to start to loose it. I can't stand--" "_Patience?"_ Josh cut in. "Hah. Very funny." Drake sneered, rolling his eyes and looking back at the screen.

"Oh, Josh look! It's loaded!" He turned back and quickly grabbed the mouse, scrolling down for the results. "Okay, Drake… there it is! The phone number belongs to 'Mr. Gavin Trent, Goldfield, Nevada.'" Josh spoke, his voice slowing down as he read the name. "Oh my g—Josh!" Drake gasped, clapping a hand over his mouth as his eyes got big: "Josh, that's—" His brother looked over and stood up, letting the words flow from his lips slowly: "…_Great_ _Uncle Gavin?"_

Drake's shocked eyes glazed over and he turned, walking a few feet from the desk. "Josh… are you—are you positively sure you typed it in right?" "I _think _so." Josh said, picking up the cell that Drake had left beside the keyboard on the desk to double check the number. He was silent for a long time and then Drake turned around and came up beside him: "Josh?" "…It's definitely his number." his brother said, glancing at him and then looking back at the computer monitor. "Wait a minute… I wonder what time he died! I mean, if he called me—" Drake never finished his sentence. Instead he picked up his phone and looked at the call long enough to be sure of the exact time that the call happened, in his head. He closed his eyes and recited it over in his mind and then began to dial his mother's cell phone number.

It rang three times and still no one answered. He waited for maybe 45 seconds before finally, after 10 or 12 rings, the line opened. "Hello?" "Mom? Hey, it's Drake. What took you so long to pick up?" "Sorry, sweetie, I couldn't find my phone in my purse. Anything wrong?" "Um, no not really, Mom. I was just thinking. I wondered—what time exactly do they think Uncle Gavin died? I mean… I don't want to make you upset or anything, but I was just wondering." Drake asked, careful not to give away any suspiciousness or worry in his voice. "Oh, no, Drake's that's alright—I don't mind you being a little curious. The doctor said that he had died around three twenty or thirty in the morning." His mother replied. "Okay, Mom, thanks. Bye." He managed to mutter before hanging up.

"Josh… it was Gavin! He—he was calling me before he died!" Drake said, grabbing a fist full of hair. Josh's eyes grew big and he stood up: "Wh…at?" "He died at three twenty or thirty. And that's when I got the call. He must have been having a heart attack. That's what the doctors think anyway." The teen explained. "That's weird! But why… why would he call you?" "I really don't know. I can't make any sense out of it. I mean… I even never met him! And another thing—it sounded so much like the stalker, that I thought it was him! I don't—" Drake stopped speaking as a thought hit both of them at the same time.

"Josh… oh my God, _he_ killed Great Uncle Gavin!" Drake was barely able to work the words from his throat. "Drake! A murderer is stalking you? Are you serious?" Josh said in a voice so disturbed and serious that he hardly even knew it was his own. "Yes, Josh." After a quiet moment, he finally added: "What am I going to do? I can't tell Mom and Dad! Yet if Gavin was _murdered, _then… oh, gosh, I don't know why all this had to happen. I thought everything was going to be fine with him… but now he's even going after my _family._" He paused for a while and then continued: "I guess he went to Gavin's house and… then after he did it, he called me from the phone." Drake wasn't crying, or even really sad. It was disturbing and more shocking than sad. He felt almost like a detective on a case, when he's just found the finger prints of the criminal. A more static, adrenaline driven electricity split through his body. "Josh, if he even so much as lays one single finger on _anyone_ in this house, I'll—"

Josh interrupted him by standing up and grabbing him in a tight hug, not caring if he did try to pluck him off, which he didn't. Drawing his arms tightly around his brother, he said: "Drake, it's gonn'a be fine. I'm not going to let this crazy guy hurt you. And man, I'm gonn'a be here for you, always. I love you, brother." Drake for once hugged his brother back and for a moment almost let Josh hold up all of his weight, for him. "I love you too, brother." Drake didn't let go or pull back for a long time. Because, for once in the last few weeks, he felt secure at that moment, here—in his brother's arms, safe from everything.

Finally he sighed a tired sigh and the two brothers stepped back from each other, with knowing smiles of slight peace written across their faces. Both put their hands on the opposite's shoulders and breathed in a deep, audible breath and said simultaneously: "I'm fine."

"Okay—sure. What ever you pitiful beings have to believe." Meghan said, leaning on the door frame of the entrance to their room, with a deep, pleased look written on her face. "I thought you were busy playing with your ZBOX." Drake said, making sure to keep himself and his still shocked emotions under complete control. "I _was _playing it until I heard you two boobs blubbering it up in here, and then I thought I'd come see the fun." she smirked at them. "You know, Meghan, we _do_ have a door for a reason, you know. Try knocking on it some time! You'd be surprised—it does wonders." Josh grumbled at her. "Aw, go ahead and go easy on her, Josh. It's umm… the _best_ thing." Drake said, deep meaning in his wording. "Ugh, you two annoy me _highly_." Meghan said, rolling her eyes and passing the door, as she began to walk down the stairs.

"You know, Josh… I was just thinking." Drake said, sitting thoughtfully down on the soft couch. "'Bout what?" came the question. "About… well, I mean, now that you kind of know a bit about _him_, maybe it's time to open the box in the garage." "What do you mean? Is it some how connected with him!" the brother replied, in a thoroughly confused tone. "I'm almost completely sure of it, now." He nodded. "Then his name is 'Landis'?" Josh asked. "What?" "Well that's the name that the note on the box said—Landis." Josh said matter of factly. "As in a first or last name?" Drake asked, wondering and trying hard to piece together what his step brother was thinking. "Well, last I guess. Though it _could_ be a first name." "No, his name isn't Landis. It's P—" Drake stopped himself before continuing his sentence. Josh had began to get a hunch on what his brother had started to say, but asked another question than the one he had in his head: "What makes you think he had something to do with the box?" "Well, it was mysterious, wasn't it? And it came right before all of this insanity started, didn't it? It might be quite a stab in the dark, but I think we should wait—" Drake leaned over, closer to his brother and spoke in a whisper, so Meghan could no way of hearing him: "Should wait until Megs goes to bed. Then we should go in to the garage and open it. What ever is inside—good or bad—might help us figure out his next move and plans, before he gets a chance to put them in action." Josh nodded with a serious facial expression: "I think so too. I mean, it's been two weeks since it came, so it's about time to open it. And since Mom and Dad are gone, tonight sounds like the absolute perfect opportunity." "Good. Let's go on down and see what Meghan is doing. Who knows? Maybe we can even get her to go to bed early if we wear her out enough." Drake answered, standing.

Both boys linked arms as they dismounted the stairs and walked slowly in to the living room, being careful not to get separated while alone in the house with Miss Prankster, herself.

Meghan was no where in sight but suddenly her voice yelled loudly from the kitchen: "Yo, Drake!" Drake and Josh hurried toward the other room and heard her yell again: "_Hellooo? _ Spaz! _Telephone for you!"_ "Thanks, Megs! Who is it, by the way? Do you know?" Drake said, sliding through the swinging door and picking up the phone from her hand, covering the mouthpiece. "It's just _Anita again._" She said, walking off in to the other room in annoyance.

"Hey, Anita." He spoke, feeling Josh's sleeve brush up against his shoulder as he came closer behind him.

"Hey, Drake." her voice said in a bit of a melancholy tone, then not she didn't say anything for a long minute.

"What's the matter, honey?" Drake asked, in a very worried tone.

"I—I know about him, Drake."

"What? You do? Are you okay, Nita?" he said anxiously, almost blurring all of the words at the same time.

"I'm… fine. But, I don't know about all this. I'd like to come over and talk to you in a few minutes if you wouldn't mind." she said slowly.

"Of course! You have to ever ask. My house is always open you." He answered, biting his lip, in concern.

"Okay. I'll be over at… eleven forty five? That's in about thirty minutes." She questioned in a rather monotone way.

"Sure. I'll defiantly be waiting." he was going to say more, but her line went dead: "Hello? Anita? Anita, are you there?" He shook his head and finally hung up.

"Geez, I hope she's okay!" Josh said, bending a brow as Drake turned around. "So you heard, eh?" with a bleak nod from Josh, he continued: "Come on, let's go in the living room and really annoy Megs so she'll got o bed. That way we can all be alone down here once Nita comes over and after she and I… talk things over, we can all go out and open the box. But with Meghan—be careful not to over-do it too much. After all she is… _Meghan._" "Exactly." His brother agreed. They both turned and stepped through the door, side by side, leaving it swinging.

Meghan watched them walk over and plop down beside her, on each side, on the couch. Silence ruled for a minute, and then she glanced sideways both ways, in question. Turning her head all the way, she looked at Drake with a frown. He grinned and said: "Hi, Megs!" "…Hi?" she said, slowly, staring at him for a minute. Then she felt something sweep up behind her shoulders and glimpsing a bit behind her, she spotted Josh's arm. Looking over at him, her eyes got big and one eye brow raised vastly. The girl reached over and picked up his hand with two fingers, throwing his arm over her head and back over to him. She rolled her eyes and sat back in to the seat, looking back at the tv. "Finally, silence!" she thought. But then suddenly Drake giggled beside her. Turning her head just a little, she saw Drake, who was only about five or six inches from her face, leaning close to her and laughing in a very weird way. Looking again at the tv, she murmured: "…_Okay…_"

"You're cute." Josh snickered in a little voice. "Okay, I'm so out of here." she exclaimed, waving a hand and jumping up from the couch, walking toward the stairs and pausing as she walked to look back with a slightly freaked out face: "Nutsos…" As soon as she was gone from the room, Drake and his brother scooted close together on the couch and passed a "Nice job!" and a high five.

"Now to relax until Anita gets here." Josh smiled, settling back in to the soft cushion and glancing at his brother. But Drake didn't relax. Instead, he sat on the very edge of the couch and rested his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor with a disheartened look embedded in his frown. Josh stared at him for a moment and then spoke up when he noticed the down expression on his step brother's face: "Hey?" "Huh?" Drake replied, shaking his head and bringing his eyes in to focus again, after being dragged back in to reality. "What's the matter with you?" Josh asked, carefully.

"Me? Oh. Um, nothing really." he said with a tiny sigh as he limply let himself flop back on to the pillows in back of him. "No, really, bro," the other teenager said slowly, with a little frown: "What is it?" "Well… it's just worry over Nita, I guess. But it's really stupid." "_Drake… _come on. I want to hear _everything._"

With a tiny sigh, Drake leaned forward and smoothed back his hair, nervously: "I don't seriously know, man. I'm just scared of what she's going to say when she gets here. On the phone she said that she knew about _him_. And she sounded so…" he stopped and stared at the floor with a pitifully depressed frown. "So what?" Josh urged him carefully on. "Well, she sounded so tense and kind of… _mad. _It just reminded me too much of when she broke up with me." he said finally. "Why did she even break up with you in the first place, Drake?" his step brother asked after a moment. "Oh… she thought--I mean, somebody told her they had seen me making out with Stacie Franschez." came his answer with a little pause. "Oo-ho-hooo!" Josh said, crossing his arms and raising a brow with a tiny laugh. "No! Josh, seriously, I didn't do it! I swear I didn't. But then when Anita heard the lie, she got so upset and everything, that she didn't even ask me if it was true. She just broke up with me." Drake answered, trying as hard as he could to defend himself. "Well, who was it that spread the rumor, anyway?" "That's just it! I don't know! Neither does Nita. She got a text message on her cell phone from some unknown number and when she tried to call them back to ask who they were, the automatic service box answered and said that the number she had tried to call was out of order."

"Dude!" Josh exclaimed suddenly after a silence of a few seconds. "What?" his brother questioned, looking up and shaking off the haze of the memories he was reviewing. "It makes sense! If this guy is trying to screw over your life, and for some reason doesn't want you and Anita to have a relationship, maybe he texted her the rumor! And now that you two are back together, he must have found out and called her again, to try and scare her off of you!" he said, wearing a understanding look on his facial expression and waving a hand out toward his brother for emphasis.

"Holy snot… Josh, I think you're right! And then he killed great Uncle Gavin to get Mom and Dad of town!" Drake said, blatant fear and surprise on figuring out the truth smeared on his features. "Oh my gosh, Drake this is seriously a plan, isn't it? Or are we just speculating too hard? …Drake, Meghan's even still in the house. What will we do if he tries to--" the rest of Josh's sentence trailed off when there was a knock on the front door, across the room.

The two teenage boys looked at each other with a slightly frightened glance and then back at the door. "I'll answer it. It's just Nita, I hope." Drake said slowly, standing up and brushing the silky brown strands of hair aside from his brown, normally twinkling eyes, which were now only glistening in dread. As he crossed the large room, Josh stood up and watched after him, taking in a deep breath and trying to ready himself for anything that might happen.

The now overly-sensitive fingers of the teenage boy reached toward the front door's dead bolt and twisting the key carefully in the lock, he slid his hand down to the knob and turned it before he could have time to change his mind. Before he saw who it was, as he swung open the door, he realized how much danger they were all in. Even Meghan. And who ever this was, standing there, could easily change all of their lives instantly. Within that single instant, the person standing at the entry to their house could have easily drawn a gun or knife and killed him dead, leaving Josh to defend his little sister by himself. But they didn't.

Drake's eyes cleared and when he was able to see again, he laid his tired eyes on the girl whom he was so worried over. "Nita! Hi! Um, come on in. Sorry it took me so long to get to the door, me and Josh were just talking." "It's okay." came her slightly chilling reply, as she stepped in to the warmer house, out of the cold out doors. "Go ahead and sit down," Drake motioned to the couch as they both walked across the expanse of the floor toward it. Josh stood from the sofa a stepped to the side with a kind, accommodating smile: "Hello, Nita." She looked up and managed a smile: "Hi, Josh." "Well uh, I'm going to go ahead and get a little snack in the kitchen, if you two will excuse me for a while." Josh nodded, brushing past Drake as Nita sat down, and patting his step brother's shoulder before he disappeared from the room, leaving them alone.

"So… you said you wanted to talk to me about… you want to talk?" Drake asked, with a meek tone in his nervous voice as he sat down a bit of a distance from her, making sure not to make her uncomfortable. "Yeah… I kind of did." she answered, shifting uncomfortably in her seat and looking down toward the floor: "I got a very… interesting phone call this evening. It rather scared me, really." "Oh no…" Drake murmured, barely restraining himself from blurting out pointed questions. "It was this guy. He said that he had been watching you and that he had found out I was friends with you. He… told me that if I came near you this weekend that I would regret it deeply. I tried to trace the call, but it was unavailable. Even when I pressed "redial" it wouldn't work. He must have blocked my number from his phone, who ever he was." "Nita," Drake said, with a dead serious look and a frown on his face: "Why? …Why did you come here? If anything happens to you--" The girl looked up at him and he brow bent in to a worried expression: "You don't _believe _his threats do you?" Drake was completely silent and he just stared at her blankly, feeling his heart wrench with that question and then closing his eyes for a moment.

"Drake, I don't care about this crazy stalker's threats! I had to come to this house tonight. He can't keep me away from you! And if he thinks he can, he hasn't a bit of sense." she said, leaning forward a bit to looked in to his face. Drake slumped over and threw his arms around her, cradling her to his shoulder and closing his eyes, trying to hold back tears. "Oh, Nita, why did you have to be so selfless? Now you're in danger. Terrible danger. And it's all… _my fault._" The teenage girl felt hot tears rush quickly to her own eyes and couldn't help but let one stinging one fall from her glistening eyes to his shoulder: "Drake, I'm not worried about me. _He's hurting you and I can't stand it._" The last seven words came out in tearful sobs and they struck his heart intensely. In response, he tightened his grip on the girl in his arms and whispered: "Don't cry Nita."

She laid her tired head against his collar and started to calm her crying, as did he. She sat back a bit from him after a minute or two and they looked at each other. "Are you alright?" he asked, taking in a quick breath. "I will be." Another quiet moment went by and then Anita handled herself so that she was able to let out a little sniffly chuckle: "I didn't expect my visit to entail this." "What? The hugging? Or the tears?" he asked, surprised that those words had slipped from his own lips. She blushed a little and looked up slowly: "Well, neither, actually… but I didn't mind it much…" "The crying or the hugging?" Drake added, looking back at her with a cute grin. She smiled and broke the long gaze she had been sharing with him.

Both teenagers sat back against the soft sofa cushions and then Drake spoke up, a while later: "Anita, how… how did you know about his stalking me?" "…Well, I kind of gathered it from--" He broke off her sentence: "Josh told you, didn't he?" She glanced up, quite taken by surprise: "No! I was going to say that I gathered it from my conversation with the man myself. He was talking at length about how he had seen me go in to your house before, seen you other places, etcetera. So my conclusion was that he could be nothing but a stalker. And Josh didn't tell me. But… I overheard you and him talking about it yesterday." "What? Yesterday?" Drake asked, with a very thoroughly confused look on his face. "I… I had come over to see you but right when I was about to knock on the door, I heard a yell and when I listened close to the door, I heard you and Josh talking. And when I heard you crying, I listened close. I heard a few mentions of the words 'him' and 'stalker' in connection with you, but then when I was going to go in and ask what the matter was, I lost my nerve and went home. I'm sorry if I shouldn't have listened." Her face was flushed deeply and full of deep concern. Looking down, he shook his head and reached over, clasping her soft hand: "Anita, you're in the midst of this now. It's better you heard. Then at least you know."

"Hey! Drake! Sorry if I'm interrupting but your cell's ringing!" Josh said, sticking his head through the kitchen window and nodding toward the kitchen itself. Drake looked over at Nita quickly and stood up, pulling her swiftly with his by the hand: "Come on Nita and tell me if this is the guy that talked to you."

The two teens ran in to the adjoining room where the boy's step brother was waiting, standing beside the counter on which the ringing cell phone sat. Rushing over to it, Anita stood in front of Drake and he pressed up behind her, leaning over her shoulder to answer the phone. "Hello?" With that word, he held the phone about two inches from ear and leaned closer in to the intently listening teenage girl standing in front of him.

Listening hard, all three teenagers heard the voice speak over the tiny cell phone speakers: "Drake?"

"Oh, man." Drake growled, rolling his eyes and pulling the phone back to his ear and stepping back from behind Anita. "What is it, _Walter?_" "I was just calling to check up on you boys. Your mother said something about umm… what was it again?" his step father's slightly obtuse voice spoke. "It's your dad?" Anita asked, giggling. "It sure is." Drake answered, shaking his head with a smile. "Drake, who was that talking to you? Meghan?" Walter said. "It's Anita." he answered. "Oh? Do her parents know she's out at midnight?" Drake sighed and closed his eyes in irritation: "Put Mom on for goodness sakes." There was pause on the line and the boy heard Walter say: "Honey, Anita's over there and it's already--" Then suddenly his mother's voice said in reply to her husband: "Walter, Josh is there, and Drake isn't that irresponsible. Now give me that phone!"

With a snicker, Drake said: "Hello, Mom?" "Hey, sweetheart. Your dad insists upon knowing-- do Anita's parents know she's over there?" she asked. Drake held the phone from his ear and raised his eyebrows, looking at the girl who stood beside him. She giggled again and he held the phone to her ear as she spoke. "Mrs. Audrey?" "Hello, dear. I just wanted to know if your parents were okay on you coming over. I really don't even care about asking much, because I know you, but Walter insists. You know how men are." At this, Drake even let out a giggle of his own. "My parents are away this weekend visiting my Grandmother in Colorado, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind my being here. If you want, I'll call them and get permission." "Oh, no, Nita, don't bother. That's good enough for me. You tell Drake to behave himself in the presence of a distinguished young lady while I'm not there to hit him, alright?" his mother said, in a playful tone. Nita grinned and looked straight in to Drake eyes and felt him stroke her ear with his finger accidentally as he held the phone for her: "I will, m'am. Have a safe trip. Goodbye, now." "Goodbye." The boy pulled the cellular back to himself and told his mother goodbye before hanging it up.

"Well, it wasn't who we _thought_ it was going to be. But maybe that's a good sign after all." Josh said with a shrug. They all stared for a minute and then Anita spoke up: "Oh! Drake, I'm sorry about your Great Uncle. Lyn called and told me." "_Lyn!_ How did she know? Nobody told her!" the boy said, frowning confusedly. "Apparently no body _has to_ tell her. When it comes to you… Lynn knows _everything._" Anita said, with a slightly amused grin and a shrug of her own. "Great… now I have a FEMALE stalker to match the guy one. Soon I'll have a whole set!" "Drake—um, shouldn't we _tell her_ about Uncle Gavin?" Josh said, slowly. Drake bit his lip and turned his head to glance at Anita. "Um, Josh, I don't know…" "Tell me! It sounds important." Anita said. Drake was silent for a minute and then spoke up. "But it'll just worry you!" he said in his own defense. "Please, Drake? I really want to know what it is." She argued. Finally, after a quiet moment, Drake began: "Well, Anita, last night I got a call on my cell. Josh and I _thought _it was him, but… it wasn't. Or, it was, but it wasn't just a call for no reason like usual." "What do you mean?" she said, looking intently at him. "I mean… it was from a real telephone number. And tonight, when we looked it up on the white pages' website, we found out that the phone call was from… my Great Uncle's house, made just before or after he died." "…What do you mean—'after'?" she said slowly, frightened understanding beginning to flow in to her face. "The only conclusion is that," Josh began, pausing before he continued on: "_He_ killed Gavin last night." Anita's eyes got big and she held a hand over her mouth in shock.

"But—But that can't be true! There were no signs of murder on your Great Uncle's body when they did the—" Josh stopped her and spoke himself: "We know. He must have… choked him. That's why everyone thought it was a heart attack. He just… suffocated." The girl's breath became heavy and she unconsciously let a hand drift to her neck: "That's… the most terrible thing I've ever heard." "Don't worry, we'll all be safe together, here. Even if Mom and Dad are gone, we still have a dead bolt lock." Josh said. "And anyway, if WE couldn't fight him off, Meghan could." Drake grinned, clasping her hand.

Anita chuckled an "Aww" and leaned up against him, wrapping an arm around his slim waist, comfortingly. Josh raised his eyebrows and said: "_Well, _perhaps the living roomwould be a better place to eat my sandwich." Drake rolled his eyes at grabbed a fist full of his brother's hair, tugging it mischievously and leading Anita in through the kitchen door way. "Owww!…" Josh moaned, frowning in his direction.

A minute later he joined the two in the next room, holding a rather heavy sandwich on a plate and a glass of Dr. Fizz. "Dude, poor turkeys…" Drake muttered, glancing at the turkey cold cuts stacked high on top of the bread: "For that sandwich alone forty or fifty turkeys must have sacrificed themselves." Josh glared at Drake and gripped his glass of soda: "_Don't make me 'Fizz you, again._" he said through clenched teeth. "Okay! Take a joke!" Drake laughed, shrugging.

Josh picked up the very large sandwich and began to take a bite out of it, but froze suddenly when there was a heavy knock at the front door. All three teenagers looked up toward the entrance hall and Anita jumped slightly when the knock came again. "Drake, what if it's—" she didn't finish her sentence, but instead let it trail off as Josh and his step brother stood up and looked at each other before walking over across the room, tensely.

"Drake, what will we do if it's him? We need to be ready." Josh said in a quiet voice as they stood near the door. "Just get ready to run and to get Anita upstairs. If it _is_ him, I want all three of you behind Meghan's locked door and _fast._" Drake answered, taking a step forward. "But Drake I couldn't leave you down here all alone and with—" he didn't get to finish his sentence, because his step brother had reached out to clasp the knob in his hand, unlocking it and yanking it open.

Neither of them could fathom what might happen next.


	14. Girl Fight

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_If you think I own anything, go to the nearest psychiatrist. Please. As a service to all humanity. _

**Note to Readers: **

_Who's ready for a complete shocker storyline? Well, for this chapter and the next one, all I have to say to you guys is—you had better BE ready for a shocker. And I mean, TOTAL, complete _**shocker. ** I hope it's not stupid, though. Hey, what can I say, my mind is… hyperactive! LOL. Anyway, since I stayed up until seven am last night writing this, hopefully it's intelligible.

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Girl Fight"; Fourteen_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flashbacks.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** "he's refer to the mysterious man.

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Drake felt the same rush of adrenaline as he had felt earlier that night, as the door swung open, almost as if it were suspended in slow motion. He felt his heart race briskly and a wince cross his face as he looked down at the ground and after a minute that seemed more like an eternity, he lifted his head, forcing his eyes to see who was standing in the door way.

But all he saw was a steak of pink and then he was hit full force with something very heavy. It even almost knocked him fully off of his feet! "Wha--!" he managed a stunned murmur as he shook his head and straightened up.

"DWAKE!" a high pitched voice shrieked in to his ear. "Lyn!" Josh exclaimed, surprised taking a step back from his brother and the girl. "Hi, Josh! Dwake, I missed you so much!" she giggled, squeezing him. "Uh, you just talked to me on the phone like… eight hours ago!" he said in a rather thoroughly disgusted tone as he plucked her arms from his shoulders and also stepped several large steps backward in to the living room.

Anita stood from the sofa and looked at the Lyn as he walked over to Drake's side. "Aniwta, what awre you doing hewe?" the bothersome girl asked, as Josh's eyes got big and he whistled to himself, under his breath: "Oh boy, here it comes…"

"I came to see Drake, earlier. How about you?" she asked, looking a bit jadedly at the girl across from her, dressed in an obtrusive hot pink outfit. "_I _came to see him. …I missed you sooooo muwch, Dwakie!" she said, turning and grabbing a handful of his lustrous brunette hair and grinning at him as if he were a lovable puppy. His eyes got huge and he tried to carefully back away with out letting her do damage to his hair or scalp.

"Lyn… um, maybe you ought to go home… hum?" Josh queried, clearing his throat and nodding toward the front door which seemed to be getting so much use this evening. Unfortunately, this angered the girl very much and she stamped her foot, letting go of her clasp on Drake's head: "Why would I weave? I want to be with my boyfwiend!" At this statement, Drake and Josh both lost control of themselves and let out a deep, shrill gasp. "What did you _say_?" Anita said, with a bit of a glare and a hint of an angered scowl. "Oh no, now, Nita, she said um—" "I said BOY FWIEND!" the girl exclaimed in an extra loud lisp, completely interrupting Josh's sentence. "Well that's just plain stupid, because he's _my_ 'boy fwiend'!" Nita said in a deep mock and an innocent look on her face as she arrogantly cocked her head to the side and rested her clenched fists on her hips. "Did you juwst cawl me stupid!" Lyn yelled in a guttural voice. "Yeah, _I think I did!" _Anita said in harsh reply, stepping up closer to her nemesis.

"Oh, come on, we're all stupid! It's--it's an irresponsible teen age thing! We're you know, um--stupid, party, fun! Nice, right!" Drake exclaimed, so fast that nearly stumbled over his own quick words, motioning with his hand. "You know what, _girl? _I think you're starting a fight, aren't you?" the much more intelligent of the two yelled. "What if I am, wooser!" "Anyone for a sandwich!" Josh asked, grabbing his half-eaten sub and holding it between the two females. "It's turrrrkey-issssh!" Drake nodded, grinning a teeth baring grin as Josh shook the sandwich in front of himself.

"I don't cawe WHAT you say, he's stiwl MY boy fwiend! Fweak!" "Oh, okay, thank you, Lyn! That is _so totally it. _You're going DOWN." Anita shouted. "SSSSSSH!" Josh hushed them, after he closed the door to the stairs. Both girls turned and looked at him, teeth clenched. "Umm… okay, never mind!" he grinned, fearfully backing off in to a corner.

"Listen, you girls _really_ don't have to do this! I can um, date both of you? How's that!" came the nervous and desperate reply from the boy in question. "He's mine! He wouldn't date a piece of twash wike you!" screamed Lyn in an incredibly high pitched scream. Anita stared with her mouth open in a gape for a minute and then she reared back hand in to the air, letting it fly forward with a loud 'smack' as it struck Lyn's face.

Drake and Josh, who were now beside each other, gasped loudly again and grabbed each other's arms, in shock. They knew that the fight had now begun and there was no more distracting either girl out of it. So instead, they wore stunned faces and watched in horror as it started.

Both Anita and Lyn ran at each other, arms swinging as they shouted arguments back and forth, still. Lyn proved to be a better fighter than she was a speaker. But with a hard slap back from her, Anita backed up and then dove at the other, throwing both of them to the floor behind the couch with a loud clunk.

Drake and his also staggered brother walked together quickly over to take in what was going on. Anita had two hands full of Lyn's long, straight, platinum blonde hair and was clenching it tightly, not even letting go when the tables turned and her adversary was on top of her. Even through the fighting, they were hollering and screaming to the very top of their lungs.

Josh seemed to snap out of the half frightened daze he and his brother were under as the girls neared the large curio cabinet standing against the wall. Rushing over to it, he threw out his arms in protection in front of it and pushed the girls away, in to rolling the other direction with his foot: "_Not the china!"_

Drake clapped a upset hand to his mouth as Anita and Lyn stood half way and slammed in to the couch, knocking it several inches forward and tumbling over it in a huddled, cat scratching mass. "Nutso guy _STALKER!_" the slightly saner teenager shouted, clawing her opponent in the shoulder. "BOY FWIEND STEAWER!" she combated, pulling her arm back awquardly.

"Drake! What do we-- I mean, how do we… stop them!" Josh asked, motioning toward the nearly lethal pair. "I don't know!" Drake exclaimed helplessly, as he glanced at Josh in concern.

"_HEEEY!_" a ground shaking yell emerged from the other side of the room, over all the other squeals and shrieks. Turning quickly, the two boys scanned the opposite corner of the living room, catching their little sister in view. She was over near the door to the stairs, wearing pajamas and wearing a scowl: "WHAT IS GOING ON!" She looked over at the brothers and stomped loudly toward them. "Their-- fighting over me!" Drake shrugged, motioning in the direction of the girls who where still struggling again each other. "Well, make them **STOP**!" Meghan hissed through clenched teeth as she covered her hands over her ears. "We don't know _how!" _Josh exclaimed. Meghan moaned and rolled her eyes, pushing Drake and Josh aside and walking across the room. "Hey wait!" Josh said, reaching out to try and stop her, but being stopped, himself by his step brother: "Dude, shut up and let her!"

"YO! CUT IT OUT!" their little sister yelled at the top of her lungs, grabbing a hold of the shoulders of both of the fighting teens, tearing them from each other. "NO! I WON'T STOP! SHE STOLE MY BOY FWIEND!" Lyn repeated, in a shout. "I did NOT, you crazy HUSSY!" Anita began to defend herself. "SHUT UP!" Meghan screamed, grabbing Lyn's arm and dragging her to the door. Pushing her through it, she shouted after her: "GO. HOME." before shutting the door in her face and locking it.

Her brothers stood, watching in awe as Meghan turned and looked at them with a grouchy, sleepy look: "My work is finished. I'm going back to bed. And if ANY of you boobs dares to wake me up again, you'll be sorry you were ever born." And with that, before either Drake and Josh, nor Anita could say a word, she turned back again and trudged through the hall, murmuring: "Spazzes." Drake bent his brow and he and Josh both shook their heads and let out a little chuckle of wonder, before whirling around and returning to their places in the middle of the room, near the couch.

When Drake glanced across to Anita, she was bending down to pick up her purse that had fallen to the floor, stuffing things back inside and struggling to put on her sweater, all the time shuddering and fidgeting like a nervous wreck. "Nita, what are you doing?" he asked, blinking in curiosity. "Leaving, not that you really care." she murmured, in a deeply upset tone as she tried to zip the stubborn purse's zipper. "What? Leaving! Are you nuts, you can't go out there by yourself!" he gasped, following her quickly as she rushed to the door, and grabbing her arm. "I can't stay here now. How could I?" she argued in a quivering voice. The boy lowered his head and let go of her forearm for a moment. Trying to think about what to say, he bit his lip and glanced downward at his hand. His eyes widened in surprise and he looked up, spreading his hand out toward the girl: "Anita! She's hurt you bad!"

Indeed, his hand was partially covered in blood from touching her wounded shoulder. She swallowed a deep breath and closed her eyes: "I'll… I'll be fine until I get home." "Nita, listen to me, you can't go home--I won't let you! I got you in to all of this mess and I'm certainly not going to stand around now, waiting for you to be bumped off by a crazy psychopath! Besides, that shoulder's all cut up! You wouldn't want to go home like that." She sighed and was silent for a minute. "Look, why don't you fix up your cut in the bathroom upstairs and by the time you get back downstairs, you can decide whether to go or stay for a while until things cool off?" "…Okay. That's reasonable." she finally agreed, stepping slowly toward the stairs. "You'll find all the bandages and peroxide in the cabinet to the left." Josh added quickly, before she disappeared up the steps.

He and Drake sat down across from each other, wearily, and the brown eyed boy blew his dark chestnut mane from his eyes, with a sigh. "What's the matter, bro?" Josh asked, looking over to his brother. "Oh, nothing, just about Anita. …I don't know about all of this. I really don't want to loose her again. And it seems that's exactly what Lyn wants. But I just can't let go of her, Josh! She's special to me, kind of like--oh never mind. …Maybe even if I _did_ loose her, it'd be for the better." he answered in a quiet voice. "What does that mean?" Josh queried, carefully. "It means… well, I don't know. I just feel so guilty for dragging Anita in to all this mess. And it was bad enough of me to drag you in to it, but now her too. I mean, maybe if I hurt her so bad on accident, then I should just stay away from her." he spat out, almost speaking to himself with his words. "Dude, don't take it so hard like that! If you like Anita as more than just a friend, you should open your heart to her. You say that you feel guilty for getting her 'in to' this, but brother, did she or did she not come over here even after she got a threatening call from him? He warned her that she had better stay away from you, but she came _anyway. _So I don't think you shouldn't blame yourself for something you didn't do. _You _didn't push her in to this mess, _she _did." "I know, I know," Drake sighed, massaging his tired brow with his deft fingers: "But it's just all so… _confusing._ I barely know what to make of it any more." The two step brothers felt a silence fall over them and as they tried to keep themselves from falling asleep, they waited for Anita to return to them.

After almost what seemed like half an eternity, the pitch in the air changed and hearing the rustle of her blue jeans and the soft padding of her feet, they both turned to see her. She was looking down at the floor, through her eyelashes and biting her lip with a slight flush and an embarrassed smile at the corner of her lips.

Drake stood, as did Josh and the first brother began to step forward, while the other lingered in the same spot for a moment and then walked quickly in to the kitchen.

"Drake—" the girl began, managing to look up from the floor. When she did, her hearted nearly melted. The handsome brown eyed boy was standing in a tense fashion, looking back at her with those glittering eyes and an apprehensive wrinkle in his brow. His brunette hair framed his face and the light made it look soft and the sweet curve of his mouth made her know that he was genuinely concerned. "…Nita—_please_ don't hate me because of all of this mess." With a deep bend in her brow, she shook her head and took a step forward, putting her arms around Drake in a hug. "I could _never_ hate you, Drake." she said slowly, forcing herself to stay put within his embrace, instead of jerking back in shyness. At first, Drake seemed stiff, almost surprised that she had done this, so much so that her heart almost fell in a saddened feeling. Pulling away a little bit, he looked at her: "…_Really_?"

She couldn't help but let a sweet and gentle smile slide to her lips and she made herself lean in closer and speak softly: "…Really." Both of the teenagers shy hearts sped up quickly as the air seemed to suddenly become unusually warm and after a moment, they came close and felt their pulse skip, the second before their lips met in an awquard softness.

This was the kind of kiss you treasure the rest of your life. The kind of kiss that makes you tingle all over and makes the butterflies flutter around inside. Anita pulled both of her arms closely around his neck, as the last most intense moment of their kiss passed away.

Pulling back, they both let out a shuddery sigh and Drake dropped his arms from her waist. "…Will you stay here for a while, or are you intent upon leaving, still?" he asked, with a shy smile. "There's no reason to leave now. I had just lost my head earlier with all of the commotion and such." she said, with a kind dimple, as she removed her light jacket-sweater. "Good. Because I wanted you to be a witness to something special." Drake grinned. "Are you going to kill Josh or prank Meghan?" she joked, teasingly in a happy chuckle. "Neither unless either of them gets to be too much of a bother. It actually has to do with _him._ But it's not very dangerous. Atleast, I don't _think_ so."

"Alright, then, Mister Parker. Do with me as you will." she teased, holding out her arms in a shrug: "Shall we go summon your brother for this deed?" "I think we should, since it he is in just as much danger as we are." Drake winked, grabbing her arm and hurrying across the room to the kitchen door.

When he pulled it open, suddenly the body of his brother flew forward, limply falling to the floor at Drake's feet. "Josh!" the stunned boy gasped, looking down. "I'm--I'm okay!" he exclaimed agitatedly as he jumped up from the floor and grinned an over-emphasized grin. "What where you… doing!" Drake asked quickly. "Umm, nothing! Just er… cleaning the door off!" Josh replied. "With you're _ear?_" the other brother replied sarcastically, crossing his arms. "Uh, well--" "Okay, never mind having to make up a gigantic story! Whatever to the eavesdropping thing. Just don't do it again." Drake interrupted the other teen's stuttering words. "But I _wasn't _listening! I was just um--" "Are you coming out in to the garage to open the crate or what!" Drake asked, with a pop of his eyes as he pushed past his step brother, in to the kitchen and opened a drawer.

He pulled out a large steak knife and held it up, to examine it in the light. "OKAY! I'LL COME!" Josh shrieked, stepping quickly backward and throwing his arms up in front of himself, as if to guard off a blow dealt by an enemy. "The knife isn't for _you,_ ameba brain." Drake said, rolling his eyes and walking back out in to the front hall. "…You actually know what an ameba is?" Josh asked with a large wrinkle in his brow and an unbelieving smile. "Come _on!" _ Anita and Drake exclaimed at the same time, hurrying through the next room and the door leading to the garage. "Comin'!" came the shrill reply, as Josh ran behind them.

The three teens slowed down upon reaching the hall and stepped inside. "Okay, Anita, well, remember when I told you a while back after I come home from the hospital, about the strange crate that arrived a long time ago?" "Yes." Anita replied, looking over at the brown eyed boy who was speaking to her. "That's what we're doing—we're going to open it. We don't really know what's inside, but it can't be anything really too bad." He explained, with a smile and a shrug. "Well I'm ready if you two guys are! I'm actually rather excited to find out what it is!" she said, shrugging.

Drake grinned back and started to set his hand on the knob, but Josh stopped him: "Hey!" "What?" the brother asked, rolling his eyes. "Let me have that knife!" "Why should I do that?" "Because it's _safe_ with _me._" Josh said, grabbing it and holding it close, backing a step away from his brother with a slightly frightened look in his eyes. Anita giggled and Drake moaned in annoyance, turning back and grabbing the door knob.

All that took place next happened so fast that none of them really knew what _had_ happened until afterwards. With a loud "whoosh", something flew at Drake's head from the right side and entrance of the garage, hitting him and causing him to cry out in pain, as he sunk to the floor slowly. With a deep gasp from Josh and a muffled and shocked scream from Anita, Drake began to loose the feeling in the rest of his body and everything started to whirl and twist dizzily in front of him. He tried to figure out what had hit him and simultaneously sit up and keep himself from loosing consciousness, but he failed eventually at all three. It all happened in a flash, but to Drake it seemed so very, very long. He was just starting to wonder where his brother was and then the blank darkness began to blacken the sight before his eyes. He felt as if a dark colored handkerchief had been pulled over his eyes, and he reached up, trying to rip it away, but realized that it was indeed only the veil of shadows that came before the state in which he dreaded being in.

With a last burst of strength, he struggled against the loss of consciousness for a few more seconds before with a heart sailing in to hopelessness, he gave up and slipped away in to the dimness.

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Josh dropped to the floor and shook his step brother, with a shocked, deep wrinkle in his brow: "Drake!" After Drake didn't move for a long time, Josh turned to wide eyed Nita, who was clasping a hand to her mouth: "Nita, find out what hit him." She nodded vaguely and turned, looking around on the floor. Josh continued to try and awaken his brother and he murmured: "Gosh, Nita, he's really out cold!" "Look!" the girl's voice suddenly rang out after a moment of quietness. Josh looked quickly over and saw her holding out a heavy metal ball. "Oh my gosh, it's dad's solid gold golf ball! He won it in a golf tournament at the country club! It must weigh almost five pounds!" "By the speed it was coming at-- Josh, is he okay!" she said, looking down at the very heavy metal ball that measured in about four to five inches in width. Josh bit his lip: "I think so… but how did it hit him? I mean a ball just doesn't come flying from no where!"

Running foot steps where heard in the hall. "HA HA!" came Meghan's young laughter as she ran through the hall toward the garage: "So you boobs fell for the trick, didn't you!" Josh and Anita looked up as the eleven year old appeared in the doorway. Suddenly the amused smile was wiped from her face when she saw Drake sprawled helplessly on the floor: "What… what happened to him?" "Meghan… you pulled this prank on us?" Josh asked, standing up with a serious look written on his brow. "Yeah! But I didn't know that--" "How many times have I warned you that someday your pranks were going to go too far? Look at your brother, now!" Josh cried in a deeply effected voice. "I didn't mean to hurt him! I just wanted--" the worried looking girl was interrupted by Anita: "It's okay, Meghan, he'll wake up in a few minutes, but just let this be a good lesson to you not to play such dangerous pranks, okay?" Meghan gulped hard and nodded with a bit of a frightened glance cross her eyes as she glanced at her older teenage brother lying on the floor unconsciously. "I am really sorry… I was just trying to have a little fun. I didn't think that I would hurt anybody. I was trying to aim the ball across the garage, not toward the door." "Don't worry, Megs. He'll be fine in a little while. You go ahead and go back to sleep and don't even think about it. I'll come get you when ever he starts to wake up, if you really want me to." the other, more mature girl answered, patting the pre-teen's shoulder. "Okay, Anita. Thanks for forgiving me. But you really don't have to come and get me later, if I wake back up I'll come see him, but if I don't I'll see him in the morning. So don't go to the trouble. But thanks anyway. And… I really _am _sorry. I'm glad he's going to be alright." and with that, the slightly anxious little girl turned and walked out of the room, leaning the door to behind her and hurrying up to her room.

A silence filled the air, but when Anita looked up at Josh's expression as he bent over his oblivious brother, she became fearful and quickly asked: "Josh, what is it!" "His head! There's a huge gash in it and it's bleeding! I think he fell in to the corner of the wheelbarrow when he turned over in to the floor after Meghan's prank." "Oh no!" the girl murmured in a panicked voice and began to walk toward the two boys. "No!" the conscious boy said, suddenly, as he held out a hand: "You don't need to see it. It's… it's really bad. Go--go get the paramedics fast." Anita had never heard Josh sound so sickly serious in the time that she had known him. She felt her stomach turn at her friend's words and she stepped a few steps back toward the door, before turning fully and running quickly toward the living room and the telephone.

She couldn't seem to get to the phone quick enough as she wanted to. It felt as if from the tip of her head to the bottom of her toes, her energy was at the zero point-- almost like every last drop of it had been drained from her body in mere moments. When she finally reached the table on which it sat, she picked it up and noticed it felt much, much heavier than before. She dialed the emergency nine, one, one number as fast as her clumsy fingers could manage and she held it up to her ear, trying to calm herself to the point where she could converse with who ever answered.

"Hello, San Diego emergency line, how can I help you?"

"My name… my name is Miss Anita Prescott. I'm at the house of Mr. And Mrs. Parker-Nichols. We need the paramedics out her as fast as possible."

"What's the problem, Miss Prescott?" the woman said in a voice that under stood the urgency of this situation.

"My friend fell and cut a terrible gauge in his head on the corner of a wheelbarrow and he won't wake up. Please someone out here quick." Anita managed to speak in to the phone, with out bursting in to panicked tears.

"Okay, don't worry. Just stay calm and we'll get somebody out there within the next five minutes." the female voice answered over the line in a reassuring tone.

"Thank you so much." the girl murmured, setting down the telephone and staring blankly in to space in slight shock. She couldn't believe that this was all happening. To _Drake!_ After a while, she realized that she had left Josh alone with the injured boy and so shaking herself from her weary daze, she pulled herself back in to reality, walking out toward the garage.

"Josh, the paramedics are coming within the next five minutes, the woman on the phone said, anyway. I--" as Nita walked forward in to the room, Josh looked up with a disturbed and frightened face with a hint of alarmed madness running in his teary eyes which made her stop speaking and widen her own eyes, managing a whisper: "What's the matter?" "It's too late for the paramedics, now, Anita. …He's not breathing anymore." And with heavy hearts, they both knew it was true-- it _was_ too late for anything now. He was gone.


	15. Dead Laughter

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_If you think I own anything, go to the nearest psychiatrist. Please. As a service to all humanity. _

**Note to Readers: **

_Get out the tissues; you're in for a big blow… no pun intended. I expect all of you to cry. Read the 1,310 words and weep. I know you will all hate me at the end of this chapter, but hopefully I can regain your confidence. –evil cackle--_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Dead Laughter"; Fifteen_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flashbacks.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** "he's refer to the mysterious man.

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It was a dark, cloudy grey autumn day as Anita, Scottie, Trevor, Walter, Audrey and many other walked along a stone path. The sound of their shoes clicking against the rough rock sounded amplified twice as loud since everything else was so quiet. The wind blew in a gentle and cool breeze past the lonely and empty little eleven year old girl as she sobbed miserably, walking beside the crowd of other people. She felt the cold air surround her body as it blew through her open coat, but she didn't care enough to button it up. "What could be the worst that could happen from being cold?" she thought to herself as her mind tossed thoughts to he brutally: "If you got pneumonia and died, you wouldn't even be fit to be near him, because your stupid prank cost him his life. He had been so kind and unharmful to everyone and you killed him dead for no reason. You should be in prison. You set up the prank. You aimed the ball. You laughed when you heard it hit the floor, from upstairs, glad that you had pulled another fast one on him. But you never once told him you loved him. And maybe you didn't." A kind hand reached over her shoulder and pulled her jacket closed, and she herself noticed her shuddering body for the first time.

Looking up, she saw Anita looking back at her, with a face empty of joy and laughter as it usually was, but full of compassion and forgiveness. "Don't cry, Megs. …He loved you." she spoke softly, managing to hold back the wells of blistering hot tears in her eyes.

They all marched on through the grave yard and looked across the sea of tombstones, toward the empty plot of ground in the lonely open field, that lay ready and waiting to fulfill it's purpose. Everything in the whole outdoors looked dead, today. The trees held an eerie yellow tint and the sky mourned in a valiant grey for the lost boy. It seemed forever until they reached the plot of soil where the casket was destined to sit at the end of the ceremony. For everyone in the presence of that group, the loss of Drake Parker left a deep, empty hole in each of their remembering hearts.

The pallbearers, (who where Walter, Scottie, Trevor and Josh), were carrying the coffin high off the ground and walking slowly toward the burial area, as everyone followed behind them. They carried an open casket because, as a special request of Josh, Meghan and Anita made to see his face one last time before he was lowered in to the earth, never to return from it.

Josh himself was barely able to handle it all. He stood at the front right hand corner of the casket, holding to the protruding handle and fighting back deep, soul shaking sobs. All he could think about was how he was ever going to make it with out his brother beside him. No more laughs, no more jokes, no more fights over food or girls or Meghan would her ever be able to share with Drake again. How could this be? He kept asking himself this same question over and over again. He had never imagined that he'd be carrying his brother in a shining mahogany oak casket, coming closer and closer with each step to saying goodbye to him forever. With an unfathomable pain in his heart, he remembered the last embrace he had shared with his brother after he had seen him crying in such awful pain. If only he could have one last hug-- one last, single embrace from not a boy to boy, but brother to brother. The way he felt now about Drake was the way he had never felt about anyone. No longer did he feel the wall of step brotherhood looming between them. For that was all gone. Now at last, they were blood brothers. They were one soul, one heart, one love.

But now it was too late. As it had been too late to save him three days earlier, in the garage, it was too late to tell his brother how much he meant to his heart and his life.

And with those same thoughts, maybe an hour later, he, his little sister, Anita and the now only two sibling's parents stood looking at the boy for the last time.

His hair was smoothed back gently in a wave over his forehead and brows and his normally sparkling brown eyes where now shut, forever, in downfall. His lips that once had been rosy and pink with life where now cast permanently with a deep blue color. Anita stared at them and felt a shuddery sob escape her as she remembered the few, sweet kisses he had shared with her. How sweet and innocent, yet longing they had been. But now there would never again be the light of love or passion in his eyes. Never again would he look affectionately in to her eyes and speak with his soft voice. She closed her eyes and murmured: "He never got to tell me 'I love you'…" A hand rested on her shoulder as he squinted her tear straining, blurry eyes to look at the lifeless boy: "He did love you, Anita. He told me that night that he didn't want to hurt you and that he never wanted to loose you." Anita pressed her lips together at Josh's soft comment and tried to keep herself under control.

A few more minutes passed and after Meghan, Anita, Audrey and Walter had said their goodbyes, Josh looked down at his still, silent brother and felt a tear slip from his eye. He reached down to touch Drake's cold hand. He could hardly believe how cold and unresponsive it was, when it hand once been warm and full of life. With a shudder in his breaking heart, he murmured a soft sentence: "Drake… if you can hear me where ever you are, I want you to know I love you. I'll _always_ love you. It's too late to tell you that face to face… but I'll _never _forget you, brother… Goodbye."

Stepping away with out hardly any feelings left in himself but utter pain, Josh closed his eyes, capturing the last picture of his brother in his mind eternally. With that, the funeral workers walked forward and finally lowered the lid of the casket, slowly, but surely putting out the last light of day for Drake Parker. And after lowering the wooden box in to the ground, they all bowed in prayer and said goodbye in their hearts for the teenage boy who they could never get back.


	16. Spot of Light

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_If you think I own anything, go to the nearest psychiatrist. Please. As a service to all humanity. _

**Note to Readers: **

_BEHOLD, THE NEXT CHAPTER! Three chapters in a day is pretty freaking good, heh? YAY! Go meee! --hides— Don't hate me for the last chapter pwease…_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "A Spot of Light"; Sixteen_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flashbacks.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** "he's refer to the mysterious man.

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Drake felt slowly as if he were floating in the darkness. Floating like he was a feather, on the air. He felt alive, but a deep fog was surrounding him all the same. The darkness was completely surrounding him, so he couldn't figure out where he was, or what he was doing, but it felt wonderful. A painless, slow kind of floating.

Then there-- in the very midst of the darkness, a little light began to show. At first it was very little, and then a little more until it was a large grey spot all around him. The spot was getting brighter and brighter, slowly every second and Drake knew in his heart that within a while he would finally understand where he was. The sparkle of grey continued to get whiter and suddenly a deep, far away voice spoke his name. Drake turned all around, looking for the speaker. Really he was unsure if he were really turning about or if he was just thinking about it in his mind. But never the less, the white spot suddenly flashed like lightning and he heard the voice speak loudly, as if it were right above him: "Drake! Drake!"

In only a split second, Drake's mind seemed to wake up for the first time in forever. He breathed in a deep, struggling breath and felt his body quiver as he blinked his eyes, trying to clear them to vision. "Oh my God, Drake! Oh thank God you're okay!" someone said, throwing their arms around him and holding him very, very close. As his sight began to get slightly better, Drake heard someone else a few feet away say: "Anita, let me check him out and see if he's okay." "No! Not yet, he's just waking up, now." the familiar female voice argued.

Suddenly Drake could see again. The dark hand that had seemed to be held in front of his face had been removed and when he saw clearly, he saw that he was looking directly over Anita's shoulder, at his brother, who was sitting behind her. She had him in her arms, and was holding him very close. "…Nita! Nita, you're here!" he exclaimed, grabbing her closer and breathing in a deep breath of her cologne. "And you're okay!" she smiled happily, pulling back, away, and letting him sit up on his own.

"Josh!" he also exclaimed, nearly leaping across the floor to his brother and throwing his arms around him: "Josh, I had thought that I was--" he let the end of the sentence trail off as he sighed happily and gave him brother one more squeeze before letting go. "Drake, you had us so scared for a minute! We though we might loose you or something awful like that!" his brother laughed, happy that Drake had awoken. "Wait… where exactly _am I?" _the teen age boy asked, looking about himself and trying to figure out what had _really_ gone on. "In the garage, silly! Do you remember about getting knocked out by the piece of the garage-door opener that popped off and hit you?" Anita asked. "Is… is that what happened?" Drake exclaimed, reaching quickly to the top of his head to feel for blood: "It wasn't one of Meg's pranks?" "No, though I'm surprised it wasn't." Josh chuckled. "Oh, holy snot, did I have a crappy dream." the boy managed to mutter to himself as he shook his head and his brother and girl friend stood. "Here, then," Josh said as the two held out their hands to help him up as well: "Let's go in the kitchen and hear about it. I want to make sure you're feeling okay, before we go and open that crate." Josh answered with a friendly smile as he and the teen girl pulled Drake off of the cold concrete floor.

The three walked at a careful pace toward the kitchen-- Drake in the middle and Anita and Josh on either side, to make sure he wouldn't fall down out of weakness. When they pushed through the swinging door and the slightly jittery boy sat down on a kitchen stool, the other two teenagers leaned against the counter as they listened to him begin to tell the long and involved, high anxiety dream.

"Aww, sweet heart!" Anita exclaimed through mild tears when he ended the re-telling of the reverie, rushing over to him and hugging him to herself: "You poor guy! That's a horrible, horrible dream to have had! And so life-like too!" "Anita, don't cry!" Drake chuckled looking up at her. "Man, brother, that was so intense, I'm having a little trouble myself." Josh said, waving a hand in front of him to fan the tiny tears from his eyes, as well. "Aww, Josh, get over here!" Drake said, pulling away from the girl in his arms and in turn reaching out the same hug to his brother as he came across the floor toward him.

"Well I hope I missed something." Meghan's annoyed, disgusted voice came from the window from the living room. "For gosh sakes, go back to bed, Meghan." Josh said, parting the hug between him and his step brother. "…_Why?" _she said, monotonally. "Because it's almost two a-em!" he replied back. "No! I don't want to go to bed." she said, blowing out an annoying breath. "Go to **bed**--" he muttered in a low voice: "_**Bed!**"_ "No!" "Meghan, if you don't go to bed within the next ten seconds, I'll--" "NO! I'll go to bed when I want and no wimpy sixteen year old boob is going to tell me any different!" she argued. "MEGHAN--" Anita rolled her eyes with a laugh and said: "Megs, go on up to bed and I'll give you a new lip gloss tomorrow, okay?" "_And_ five bucks?" the young girl asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. "Sure--" "Deal!" she said, jumping up from the stool on the living room's side of the window and running off toward the stairs.

Josh looked over at Anita with his mouth open a gape and he said slowly: "How did you… do that!" "I'm a female-- I know how to deal with someone of my own sex!" she shrugged. Shaking his head in unbelief, Josh turned to his brother and pointed toward Anita: "This lady is a keepah!" Drake and the girl both couldn't help but laugh loudly at the boy's manner, but still they both wore slightly pink blushes on their cheeks.

Suddenly a loud ring broke through their thoughts. "Oh crap, not again…" murmured Josh, closing his eyes for a minute, beginning to walk from the room to answer the call of whom they all knew, it was. "Wait!" Drake exclaimed, rushing out of the room as well and up beside Josh, with almost renewed strength: "I'll answer it. I'm not really afraid of him, now and I think I can handle it by myself." Josh faltered for a second and moved his own hand away from the receiver, motioning Drake to pick it up after a moment.

"Hello?" he spoke, in a strange, strong and solid voice.

"Drake, sweetie?"

"Mom! Hey!" he sighed in relief: "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing really. We were just getting ready for bed over here and I wanted to put in a quick call to make sure everything was okay." Audrey's voice answered back on the telephone line in a smiling tone: "_Is it _alright?"

"Oh, yeah, everything's okay over here pretty much. A minute ago I went out in the garage with Josh and Anita and a piece of the garage door opener fell and kind of knocked me out because I fell so hard." He answered, remembering the fall and rubbing the back of his head carefully, where the piece of heavy metal had hit him.

"What! Drake Parker! Are you alright?" she gasped, worriedly over the telephone.

"He he, mom, don't worry. I'm fine now. Josh and Nita are good care-takers. I had a real bad night mare when I was out, but thankfully it wasn't in real life." He answered with a smile.

"Oh, well… that's good, I guess. But, just be careful okay? I don't want anything to happen to you while we're gone."

With a truthful laugh, Drake shook his head and answered slowly: "Believe me, mom… I don't want anything to happen to me either. _Really._"


	17. Within the Box

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_If you think I own anything, go to the nearest psychiatrist. Please. As a service to all humanity. _

**Note to Readers: **

_ROFL, I CAN'T BELIEVE THE RESPONSE TO THE LAST THREE CHAPTERS! LOL! For those of you who haven't read that last chapter, read it._ _Believe, me it is a very er… relieving chapter. But anyway, as to this_ _chapter, drum roll please! The moment that you have all been waiting for has arrived—the opening of the dreaded CRATE! BWHAHAHA! Who's ready fo' dis, foshizzle? I have no idea if this chapter even makes ANY sense what so ever, so keep in mind that for the most part this was compiled between three to six am during the course of a few nights. I probably would have had this up a little sooner, but guess what? My sucky Bellsouth "Fast Access" DSL modem quit working yesterday for some freaking reason and it took me a zillion years to get it to work. By the way, Bellsouth's Help and Support call station completely sucks, too. I finally gave up on talking to the woman on there yesterday and fixed it myself. "Unplug the DSL router cable and plug in the USB cable from the modem's light port… blah blah… type in a thousand numbers for no reason… blah, blah." I mean, come ON! I've been using the computer for 3+ years and I didn't even know what she was talking about, so how would a less computer-ized person have any idea! Gimme a friggin break! LOL! Annnnnyway, here's chapter number seventeen comin' your way!_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Within the Box"; Seventeen_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flashbacks.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** "he's refer to the mysterious man.

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All three of the teenagers had rested for a little while after Drake hung up with his mother, but sitting on the couches and chairs in the living room. Josh and Anita both knew that Drake was _alright_ from his bump on the head, but they in turn, also knew that he had had quiet a frightening experience in the dream he had dreamt, too, so they wanted to make sure he was emotionally as well as psychically feeling fully re-strengthened before even attempting to open the surprise-filled box.

"Brr… I'm kind of cold! Am I catching a fever or is it really freezing in here?" Drake asked, raising a hand to his brow. "I'm cold too!" Anita agreed, scooting over to him and reaching up to feel his brow: "I don't think you have a fever… though if I have one too, I could be mistaken." "No, both of you are right-- it's pretty darn cold in this house!" Josh stopped them, crossing his arms in an attempt to warm himself.

Standing up and walking across the room, Drake crossed his arms as well and shuddered, glaring back toward Josh: "If that Meghan has screwed with the thermostat for the heater again, I'm going to drag her out of that cozy bed of her's by the hair and then I'm going to--holy snot!" he stopped when he reached the heating and air conditioning controls located on the wall. "What?" Josh and Anita asked simultaneously as they turned around on the couch to look at him. "It's sixty two degrees in here!" "What the--!" Josh managed, jumping up and hurrying over to his brother's side: "How did THAT happen?" "I have no idea!" his brother replied, shrugging with an annoyed, cold look on his face: "But the heat won't come on and it must be forty outside!" "I know! On all the nights for the heat to go out, fate happens to choose the coldest night of September!" Josh exclaimed with a roll of the eyes.

"Why don't we go in to the laundry room and check the heating unit? Maybe something's the matter with the box itself." Anita asked, standing, too, and heading toward the garage hall. "Best idea I've heard so far." Josh nodded, pulling his brother with him across the width of the floor, through the hall way and in to the laundry room, as Nita tagged along not far behind them.

Once Drake looked around, he finally found the unit's box on the wall behind the door and he pulled the metal latch to release the small steel cover, so he could look in to the mass of wires and electrical lines. After a minute of nothing but the sound of his hand digging about carefully in the box, Anita leaned in and stood of her tip toes, trying to peer above his head: "…Well?" "Yeah, Drake-- what's the matter with it?" Josh prodded his step brother on. With a deeply agitated sigh, Drake pulled himself back from the box and looked around from the edge of the metal flap and holding up a screw driver: "Does **_this_** answer your question?" "Wha--!" both of them managed to utter, under their breaths. "_Meghan?_" Anita proposed, widening her eyes and looking at the two brothers with one bent brow. In turn they look at each other and narrowed their eyes in hatred, turning back to the girl: "_Meghan!" _ "Good grief, she _is_ a little demon child, isn't she?" Anita replied with a shake of the head. "Word." nodded Josh, with big eyes. This excited a giggle from the girl and then she sighed, turning to the other boy: "Oh, Drake, what'll we do now? We can't just freeze to death in here!" "Well, I don't know what else to do except light a fire in the fireplace. Either that or living with blistering cold all night." he answered, looking up wearily at the ceiling as if he were glaring at Meghan.

Anita, at the request of her two hosts, waited in the living room on the couch while they returned to the chilly garage to get firewood from a plentiful stack they'd built up last spring. It wasn't long before they both returned with wood stacked high in their arms and as soon as they had it in the grate of the hearth, they turned on the gas and set it a flame. The flames themselves were rather hypnotizing to the slightly tired and rather cold trio, as the gas turned hotter and the logs exploded in to blue and gold tongues of fire. "Wow. It's been so long since I've seen a nice fire like that. A whole year! It's beautiful, really, to watch." the girl remarked, gazing at it in a slight trance-ish way. "I know. And it's nice and warm, too." Drake smiled back at her, with a sweet grin. "So HA! to crazy Megs' schemes because since we are resourceful, we are now toasty warm." Josh laughed toward the stairs in a haughty cackle. "Well, Josh, not exactly… _toasty… _more like _almost_ warm… barely?" Drake commented, shivering and hurrying toward the couch where Anita sat.

"Well, yeah… I guess you're right." his brother nodded, walking over to the chair beside the sofa and sitting down: "But, hey-- when we all get warmed up a little, shall we go back out and open the crate? I'll watch out for any flying garage door opener face plates!" "Yes, we'll definitely do that as soon as we warm up well enough." Drake sighed, with a twinge of a soft chuckle in his voice.

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So that's exactly what they did. They warmed up in front of the glowing hearth and after maybe thirty minutes of trying to get "toasty" and talking about what a day they'd had, Anita shrugged on her sweater and the trio headed once again to the garage, their mission being to finally open the mysterious box that had had been bothering the two boys for a near three weeks.

Josh went carefully through the door first, making sure for his step brother that there were no more _real_ dangers in store for him. And-- of course, when their came no flying objects, Drake and Anita sighed a deeply relieved sigh and stepped in side the door way.

"I'm so excited that I'm almost scared." Josh remarked with an evident look of glowing anticipation on his face, as Drake walked slowly around to the back of the crate and began to nudge the very heavy package in to the center of the room. Seeing that his brother certainly couldn't handle the large box by himself, Josh leaned in to the side and helped pull it across the floor. Once it was in the middle of the concrete, the two boys stood back and crossed their arms, looking at it for a moment, in silence.

"Well…" Drake's matter of factly voice finally broke the dead quietness, as he reached up and grabbed and long, silvery steel crow bar from the top shelf on the wall: "I guess this is the end of the line. No more wondering and worrying after such a long time." With this comment, he stepped forward, Anita and Josh stepped back a bit and he gripped the metal bar between his hands.

Raising it up to the edge of the wooden object, he slid the pointed end in to a crack and motioned with a nod of the head toward Josh, to come and help him a bit. Josh stepped over to him, leaving the teen girl watching in marvel by herself in the corner of the room, as he and Drake both grabbed the end of the crow bar that was up in the air and began to jam it with all of their body's force in to the small crack, making it bigger and bigger, until the crate began to split apart at the edges.

Both of the boys wanted to stop and stare in dramatic awe before ripping the wooden box open by it's corners, but neither were willing to quit so easily. Instead of staring at it with their mouths open in a gape, they continued throwing themselves in to the shiny gray bar, until the walls of the package crumbled in toward the middle and the wood groaned with a distinctive splitting noise.

Standing back for a moment, they tried to catch their breath before finally lifting the broken pieces of timber to reveal the long awaited secret of what the box held. "Boy… who ever it was who sent it, they sure bought strong plywood." Drake joked a little, trying to relieve the severe tension and suspense that everyone could feel in the air, as he whisked his slightly damp hair from his eyes.

With a bit of another silent spell of apprehension beginning to fall over the three teens, the handsome boy reached out toward Anita, talking her hand with a kind smile and leading her beside him, toward his brother and the box, a few steps away.

Drake bent down on his knees and with only a split second of hesitation, his finger darted out and quickly gripped the largest cracked piece of wood, flipping it out of the way. They all stared in amazement and shock and finally he spoke: "…I can't believe this." He swiftly started to push other smaller splinters of wood away, revealing a whole load of strange items. "Drake… what-- what is all of that?" Anita murmured, at last, as she bent to lean a little over his shoulder to watch. "It's… all sorts of stuff from when I was a little kid! Look! My first baseball bat, my trophy from the music contest I won at the fair when I was eight, my old notebooks. It's _all_ here!" "But," Josh began slowly, gazing down at the pile of items spilling from the beaten crate: "I don't understand!" "Me neither. Drake, where did this all come from? What does it mean?" Anita nodded, wanting very badly an explanation. "Well, I really don't know either!" he shrugged, looking up for a moment at the two sitting near him: "The last I've ever seen of any of these things, was when--" suddenly he stopped. Josh didn't know exactly why, but he did know that his brother had the same expression on his face as he did the day in the hospital when they had been discussing the first mention of _him_.

"Where?" Anita replied, not yet understanding that what Drake had began to say must remain _unsaid._ "It's--just been a long time since I've seen it all. It was very nice of who ever sent this to return this junk to me." he said, becoming noticeably quieter and looking down, toward the box. His friends didn't really further the subject and certainly knew better than to harass him for answers, so they left it at that. But Anita couldn't help but feel the sudden distance and coldness he showed toward her. She wondered why he had begun acting so aloof, but this too; she said nothing about.

After a little while longer of rummaging through the over-crowded remains of the crate, the three became cold and they started back inside, returning eagerly to their places in front of the now cozily warm fire place.

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As four and five o' clock slowly passed, the teenage girl felt the inaccessibleness between herself and the brown eyed boy grow manifest even more so. To the point where he began to wonder if she had angered him or hurt his feelings in some way that she hadn't noticed. He hardly seemed the same guy that had hugged her so sweetly only hours ago. But she tried to brush this feeling aside and become cheerful anyway, hiding her truly worried interior.

Drake, whom had been mostly quiet for the remnant of those two hours, spoke up after a silent period and asked if any one happened to be as hungry as he was. To that, Josh replied that _no one _could be as hungry as he is, but yes, he too was a bit hungry, himself. Anita grinned at his joke and then turned to look at Drake as he stood up and walked a step across the floor, toward the kitchen: "I'm hungry too." He looked at her for a moment with a deep stare, obviously not about what she had just said, but then caught himself and looked away, beginning to walk again: "I'm gonn'a go make some popcorn."

These actions left the teenage girl with a sinking feeling in her middle and a head nearly spinning out of wonder about why he was acting so.

After managing to sweep back her emotions from her face, she turned the slightest bit to look at his brother, who was sitting on the warm hearth, stroking the bright fire with a metal rod. "…Hey, Josh?" "Hum?" she murmured, glancing up with the first smile Nita had seen in almost two hours. "Am I just going crazy… or is--_does _Drake seem a little--" The black haired teenage boy grinned back, interrupting her and finishing her sentence as well: "Freaked out?" "Exactly!" she nodded, her brows knitting together. "Yep, he does. I guess it's just the stress of the day finally working its own way through his mind, but he does. And he seems even more so in the past maybe… two hours?" "Yes! That's what I was thinking. Well, actually, I was rather a little worried I might have made him upset in some way about something when we were in the garage. Truthfully, Josh, from your perspective, did I?" she asked back, in all honesty. "In my opinion, not at all. But then again, I'm not Drake so I don't know. He has so many secrets lately that it's getting hard not to step through a mental 'hole' of his with out meaning to." the boy sighed, poking the flaming logs in the grate, forcefully, trying to let out a bit of his frustration over the matter.

Anita sighed too, and was about to add another opinion of her's to the conversation, but caught herself before speaking as she spotted Drake pushing the swinging door open with his elbow as he hurried back to the table and chairs in the middle of the room, with a large bowl of pop corn and assorted sodas.

Josh, Nita and Drake sat, passing the popcorn and eating until they could eat no more, and Anita was glad when she could start to overcome her guilt of making Drake 'upset', though he still had the distant demeanor. Oh, but of course he wasn't being overly rude or even mean at all! But it was his very un-affectionate, un-boyfriend/girlfriend signal that he was sending out that made Anita shrink back from him in a bit of anxiety. She'd never really experienced this side of Drake before and she hardly even knew that it existed. For he was usually so laughing and loud, but now he was so nonchalant and quiet, that she barely knew how to handle herself around him.

Drake and Josh had started up an argument about the remote and although it was somewhat humorous, Anita didn't feel at all like laughing or even smiling, for that matter. It was now when she started to think, that she realized how literally worn out she was. Her Lyn-wounded shoulder was stinging a little now and she was really a little cold. Not to mention her extreme tiredness. It in itself was almost to the point where she could have fallen asleep on the couch even through the semi-loud fight between the two step brothers.

Finally, the fight ended by Anita's suggestion that the tv remain off and neither of them having the remote, and they both sat down once again to the comfy chairs and the blazing flames in the hearth.

"Hey, guys," Josh began, staring at the ceiling. "…Wha?" both of the other teens muttered wearily in reply to him. "Do either of you know what time it is? 'Cause I feel so… freaking sleepy." he continued, with a paused and a deep yawn. Anita sighed and looked down at her watch, waiting a moment for her sleepy eyes to clear so she could see where the hands of the clock were. "It's, um… six oh five right now." she replied, with a yawn of her own. "Well, that does it. I guess we really made it through the night with out being murdered by 'psycho'." Drake mumbled in a tired voice, almost making fun of himself. "Well, I'm pretty glad of that." Josh nodded, leaning back in to the chair and closing his eyes.

Suddenly something hit him in the face and he snapped his head up, looking around to see his brother standing up beside his chair with a sly but tired grin across his face as a pillow feel to the floor. "What!" Josh exclaimed, looking irritatedly up at Drake. "Get up and look out the window with me before you fall asleep down here." he replied, pulling Josh up from the chair. "Why can't I fall asleep down here? What's that matter with that?" he retorted. "Remember when Meghan tied you to the couch with the garden hose when you fell asleep there _last time?" _ "And _that is the mattah _with that!" Josh nodded, suddenly seeming awake as he stood up and walked toward the bay window with his teen brother, behind the couch.

When Drake and Josh reached the window and pulled back the crimson colored curtains, they were surprised to see light blue - amethyst light pour in from behind them. Once they looked out toward the skyline, they sighed in tired awe. The sky was hazed over with almost paper thin, transparent peach and plum shaded clouds and the sun was rising up in the very midst of them, in a blood red, fiery ball, much darker than the flames in the grate of the fire place.

"What a sunrise, huh?" Josh grinned, looking at his brother and then back up at the wondrous view. "Maybe it's a sign." Drake murmured almost under his breath. It took Josh a moment to comprehend what his brother was saying, but finally he understood that perhaps such a beautiful sunrise meant the end of the dark situation they'd been through lately.

After a few minutes more of watching the intensely stunning dawn twist in to many other pretty colors, they both sighed and reluctantly left the window to return to where Nita sat. But strangely enough, the room behind them had become _totally _silent. They turned with a bit of uneasiness at the unnatural quiet and stepped a few steps before coming to the edge of the couch.

But within an instant, the slightly fearful faces of the brothers changed to grinning smiles. Looking down at the couch, both of them took in the sight of Anita curled up gently, on her side, peacefully asleep. "Well, at least _somebody_ isn't tired anymore." Josh chuckled as his brother walked over to the chair to pick up a warm, heavy throw blanket and returned to lay it over to sleeping girl. Looking at her for a minute with a troubled look, it eventually melted away in to a little smile and Drake bent down a little to give her a soft peck on the forehead before turning to stand. Josh grinned and patted his step brother on the back after feeling a weight lift from his heart: "That's more like yourself."

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Anita had woken around eight and found the two boys in the kitchen, slurping up cups of coffee and trying with their best efforts to keep themselves awake. She laughed with them about herself and her little nap and then apologized for making them wait up for her. They insisted that it was really no problem until she seemed convinced enough and then they offered her a cup of coffee. She took it gladly, explaining that though she had gotten _some_ sleep, that she was still sleepy and that she needed as much help as she could come by on getting home safely. Josh offered to drive her home after Drake stayed awkwardly silent, but Nita declined the offer and replied that Josh wasn't in any condition to drive, himself. With a smile and a few 'thank you's for the protection last night, she bid them goodbye and left after a little while. Still, though, as she got in to her cold automobile, she couldn't shake off the feeling of coldness between her and Drake.

Drake and Josh cleaned up the popcorn and the empty soda cans from the table downstairs and managed to return to the freezing cold garage and push the demolished box over in the corner and replace the blue tarp over it, before weakly turning off all the few lights downstairs and heading up the staircase to their room, where they hoped they could rest for a few hours before having to tend to Meghan again.

"I'm sooooo tired…" Drake moaned, falling in to the pillows on his bed and only bothering to kick off his shoes before twirling in to the warm comforter. "Dude, we're gonn'a be so, so dead tomorrow when Mom and Dad come back home." Josh muttered, throwing his jacket and shoes in to a folding chair in the corner of their room. "Mmmmhmmm…" Drake answered, being much too lazy and tired to speak _real _words.

The room became quiet as Josh climbed in to his own bed and didn't hesitate to fall immediately to sleep. But though Drake was utterly psychically demolished, his _mind_ wouldn't seem to go to sleep. He just tossed mercilessly in the tangled bed covers as thoughts flooded his tired mind. There were all kind of things flying through his head-- the contents of the crate, the disturbing dream of his own death that he'd dreamt earlier, the strange and unsettling peace of the previous night after such threatening calls and his own great uncle's _murder._ But one thing seemed to come back over and over. Anita. Drake hadn't really realized how infatuated he'd become with her until last night. But unfortunately, he hadn't seemed to realize what he was doing by letting himself feel this way about her.

He'd been over it and over it in his mind-- how he would never get too serious about one girl. And especially not after the now possible danger of _his_ threats. But what if he had let himself slip? Had he? He wasn't sure. Or was he? Such a mess he'd caused! How _did_ he manage to muck everything up so bad? These questions where all he could think about, and sleeping wasn't one of them.

"_Drake… if you let her slip in to your affections, even for a moment, she's going to end up getting hurt bad. And all because of you! You can't let that happen. He's crazy enough to even kill her-- think of Gavin! And anyway, remember what happened the last time you let somebody in to that heart of yours? It got broken. No-- it got blown in to oblivion, not even broken. Why are you bent on causing destruction in you're and every one else's lives?"_

Something in his young head kept repeating those types of things over and over. He was fighting it hard-- after all, he wanted to love her very much. She was beautiful, smart and everything! But second after second, the words whispering through his brain seemed to make more sense… they seemed to yield even deeper, truer meaning all the time. What a battle it was. Moaning in to his pillow out of tired dread and turning over on to his stomach in his bed, he took a hand full of his brunette hair in to his hand and laid his head down in to the soft bedding.

"_Listen, Drake, don't fight this. By letting yourself get attached to her, you're just hurting everybody. She'll hate you if you show affection to her and then you suddenly become preoccupied with this. This mess is taking over your life and if you don't let her go, she'll be miserable. She's a hot girl; she'll be able to find somebody who can really take care of her, easily. You think you took care of her tonight and 'protected' her, but all you did was sit around eating chips and popcorn and staring in to space. If any body was 'saving' her, it had been Josh. He is the only one with a kind heart, Drake Parker, not you. You're just a selfish, lazy, stupid teenage boy. With or without her, you have nothing. You're not cute, you're not smart, and you don't even really have any musical talent. Who even knows why on earth crazy Lyn wants you so bad, maybe it's because you're crazy too._"

Drake didn't know what to believe, but he knew one thing—that he was going to have to go through a lot more before this was all over. This thought made him cringe inside and snap his eyes tightly shut, out of tired desperation. "_Life isn't completely over, yet… I may be confused now, but when I wake up next, surely it will be different. My mind will be clear and I won't be feeling so rotten._" So trying to blank out his thoughts completely, he finally surrendered control of his consciousness and fell not so peacefully to sleep, hoping against hope that when he awoke he wouldn't feel quite so dark and hopeless.

--

--

--

Alas, it was not different when his burning eyes blinked open and he saw Josh hunching over him. With a shake of his head, he tried to find out what was going on. Josh was on all fours, leaning directly over him on his bed, shaking him and bouncing the mattress up and down, frantically. Drake raised an eyebrow and leaned back as far as he could in to his pillow, away from his brother's face: "…What the--!" "Wake up!" Josh shrieked, almost making his step brother's ear drums explode. "I—AM AWAKE!" Drake exclaimed, with a dramatic pop of his eyes. "But—" "Josh," Drake began, blinking his eyes slowly, in sarcasm and interrupting his brother: "…Just get off of me." "But Drake, Megha—" "_Off, **Josh.**_" He growled, glaring fiercely and raising a hand in a claw shape behind him. "Okay! Okay!" Josh squealed, crawling over Drake's knees and jumping from the ledge of the bed, to the floor below.

"Now… what the heck are you yappin' about?" Drake muttered, running a hand through his tousled brunette locks and squinting his deep brown, stinging eyes as he sat up, causing the soft comforter to draw around his waist in a heap. "I was 'yhappern' about Meghan! SHE'S GONE! …**GONE**!" Josh yelled in a deeply disturbed voice. "Ha, ha, man—very funny. It is to laugh…" Drake groaned, rolling his eyes and massaging his temples as he began to wake up. "Drake, I swear, she's gone! She's just _not_ in the house _anywhere_!" Josh replied in a serious but frenzied tone, looking up at his brother in desperate earnestness. "Wait… you mean, seriously?" he asked, looking over and frowning a little as he blinked those chocolate pupils and stood up on the ledge, leaning down to grab a bottle of soda from shelf. "Yeah! _Seriously_ she's gone!" Josh exclaimed, in a frazzled manner. "Dude, don't spaz about it so bad!" Drake said, climbing down two rungs of bed's ladder and then jumping down the rest of the way down: "She is probably just hiding to freak you out. Did you even _look_ around?" "Of **course** I did! Um, duh, Drake! I mean… come on!" Josh said quickly, with a weak laugh before he turned around to walk toward their door. "Goin' to look for her?" Drake asked in a monotone yell. "…_May_be." Josh exclaimed, disappearing down the stairs.

With a sigh, Drake walked sleepily to he and his brother's closet. He was still dressed in the clothes he had worn all day yesterday and now that he had slept in them, they were wrinkled and a bit too warm. Reaching in to the neat closet, he grabbed out one of his favorite tee shirts and another pair of dark, distressed blue jeans. He decided that he ought to hurry and jump in the shower, now, because for the rest of the day he might be busy chasing down Meghan. After all, if he hurried, it would only take maybe five minutes.

He hurried to the door of their bathroom and opened it up, walking inside and after turning on the water and ridding himself of the slightly itchy clothes, he stepped under the warm water and closed the curtain as the steam rose from the fiberglass floor of the bath tub.

A few minutes later when he was massaging the soapy lather of shampoo through his brown hair, he heard Josh clunk up the stairs and through their door. All was quiet for a moment except for the sounds of the water running and Josh's panting breath. But then Drake heard his brother step through the bathroom door and exclaim toward the shower curtain: "You're TAKING A SHOWER?" "…Yes?" Drake said with a raise of his eyebrow as he spoke toward the ceiling and began to rinse out all of the thick shampoo. "But I can't find Meghan, Drake! You're supposed to be _helping me_ take care of her and yet you're not even lifting a single finger to help me!" the other boy said in a heavy breath filled voice. Drake rolled his eyes and reached out, holding his pointer finger out side of the shower curtain. "There--I lifted a finger, happy!" "_No!"_ Josh exclaimed, frowning and shoving Drake's finger back inside the shower.

"Look, if you would just _get out_ of my bath room, I could get out and get dressed, and then help you!" the paranoid boy's brother said loudly. "It's 'our' bathroom." "Okay, fine! If you want me to get out while you're still in the room, I will!" Drake exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing the shower curtain as if to rip it open. "NOO! AH!" Josh yelped, and Drake heard him scurry out of the room and close the door behind him. With a sly smile, Drake chuckled at his own brilliance and shook his head as he got out of the shower and quickly dressed in his fresh clothes.

He shook most of the water from his damp mane of brunette locks and then combed it, deciding that he had better let it dry partially by itself, because Josh more than likely would run out of patience before he could have time to finish blow drying it. As he leaned down and grabbed his dirty clothes that he had taken off, he could hear Josh's voice screaming loudly downstairs. He quickly opened the door and stuck his head out, listening. "MEGHAN, I **_swear_** if you jump out and attack me with something, you will feel the wrath of JOSH!" Drake chuckled and rushed out of the bathroom and threw his clothes in to the laundry hamper before running downstairs to meet up with the apparently very worried brother, downstairs.

"Josh--" Drake started, but knew his brother couldn't hear him over his own screaming. "JOSH." Still the dark haired boy didn't turn around and continued to shout out to his invisible sister. "_YO, BOOB!" _the shout came from behind him. Josh turned around to stare in disturbed silence at his brother. "…Did you just _say that?"_ Josh asked, raising his brows slowly. Drake stared in though for a minute and then exclaimed: "…Yeah!" with childish amusement written on his face. Josh shuddered visibly and shook his head in a bothered grimace. The other brother shrugged and walked past him, out toward the garage hall: "I'm looking in the garage." "Wait!" Josh gasped, running and standing in front of him, grabbing his shoulders with a frightened face: "Do you think the car is still there!" "…_Josh._" "No! Really! What if she got the car and drove it off and she's gonn'a come back later and lock us up in the closet in the garage with all the spiders and ants and then she--" "JOSH!" "AND THEN… THEN what if she like lets us fall asleep and stabs--" "_Josh!" _Drake yelled, but his brother continued to shriek on. "SHE'S COMING BACK! SHE'S COMING BACK FOR OUR PATHETIC, DEFENSELESS SOULS! SAVE ME! HIDE ME! DRAKE, SHE'S COMI--"

Suddenly with a loud "POP", something smacked Josh's face and it began to sting. Opening his eyes and widening them, he looked at Drake, who still had his hand in mid air. "…Thank you." he murmured, beginning to take in deep breaths.

"Come on and lets see if she's in the garage." Drake said, grabbing his brother's wrist with a roll of the eyes and dragging his down the hall. "But hopefully this time she'll be alone… no more sheep…" Josh shuddered again, closing his eyes for a minute before his brother yanked the door open, calling out: "Meghan?"

But when they both stepped inside and looked around, there was no one in sight and no one answered his call. "Man… not even a _sheep!" _Josh whined in an upset voice. "Did you look in the laundry room?" asked Drake, biting his lip and turning to the other boy. "Yeah! Laundry, living room, kitchen, her room, our room, Mom and Dad's room and bathroom, and even the office upstairs." Josh said, in a defeated tone. "Man… either she's found an amazing hiding spot or she's not in the house. I'm going to check over the house again really quick instead you missed something-- you go out and check in the back yard, okay?" Drake said, stepping toward the door, again. "Sure. Dude, I hope we find her!" Josh exclaimed, pressing the 'open' button on the garage door and stooping to slide under it when it got high enough.

Drake hurried alone through the hall and through the living room. After checking in the hall closet and running in to the kitchen, he scanned it, but left almost as quickly as he'd come, realizing that there was no place to hide in this room. He rushed from room to room and then headed up the flight of stairs to check the second level of the house. Yet, still she wasn't anywhere to be found. Reaching his own room, he strode to the window and opened it, leaning out and looking around below for Josh.

He must have been looking only in the side yard, because within mere seconds he appeared below Drake. "Josh!" Drake shouted. He looked up and replied with a: "Did you find her?" "No, but I guess that means she's not with you, either, huh?" came the answer. "Yeah." Josh returned, wearing a highly angsty face. "Meet me in the living room okay?" Drake yelled down. "Of course!" Josh nodded, watching his slim brother slide back through the opening and shut the window tight.

Within only about twenty or thirty seconds, the two were together again, in the living room.

"Drake, what the heck are we gonn'a do? Meghan is lost! …LOST!" Josh gasped, pacing back and forth. "I can't understand it! We were only asleep like three and a half hours! What could have happened to her in three freaking hours!" Drake replied loudly, motioning with his hand as he too began to pace the floor, but in the opposite direction. "I don't understand either!" Josh sighed nervously. "Wait… oh no… what if--" Drake didn't ever finish his scary sentence because when he looked up at his brother (who had stopped pacing as well), he knew that he knew also what he had begun to say.

"Oh--no! Drake if he has her, he'll--" "He can't! Can he? I mean, he couldn't have kidnapped her or anything! We were right in the next room!" Drake said, frantically trying to get the horrific idea out of both of their heads. "And not to sound dreadful, but if he _had _happened to be able to find his way in to the house, why would he bother with Meghan? Wouldn't he have just gone after you, instead?" Josh replied, also trying to strike this terrible possibility off of the list. "Maybe, but Josh-- he's crazier than even I understand. And I knew him… I mean, well, he could do anything-- I would hardly put _anything_ past him." Drake said in a slow, dead serious voice, stumbling over only a few words in the middle of his sentence.

"What'll we do! Should we call the police?" the other boy said in a frightened way. "No, not yet! I mean-- if they find out about him, then we'll ALL be in trouble. _Serious _trouble. He might even kill her… and all of us, including Nita. And Mom and Dad wouldn't even be home to save us. Even if he left us alive, there would be nobody to call the police." Drake gasped, grabbing Josh before he could walk toward the telephone sitting on the table. "Then what now?" Josh pleaded. "…Mom. I hate to have to call her. And… and I don't have any idea what I'm going to tell her. It's all so complicated… it's become a tangled mass of events over a number of years." "Pray, brother. And tell her. You have to. This is _our sister's life_ we're talking about here." Josh said, deep meaning and truth laced through out his words. "Okay, man." the other boy sighed, picking up the phone and slowly dialing the well known number in dread.

Every ring made his middle knot tighter, and tighter, and tighter. Finally a voice answered, but he had no time to answer back after his Mother had said "Hello?" The things that occurred in the next few seconds left the brothers almost dizzy and shocked at the same time.

A door slammed behind them and at their turning to see what had caused it, they both gasped in their deepest breaths and Drake slammed down the phone in surprise, as both of the two had been so caught off guard.

"Hiya, boobs!" Meghan grinned a slithery smile, tossing a handful of popcorn in to her mouth from a large bag she held in her hand and walking across the room with three over-sized shopping bags labeled 'Macy's'. "WHAT THE-- MEGS? You were g--and th--then you are right back here with… and… Macy's!" Josh stuttered in complete shock and unbelief. "That's enough, Porky," Drake murmured in his brother's direction, as walked toward his previously missing little sister: "Where in the snot where YOU?" "The Premiere, with Mackenzie and Charlise. Oh! And Macy's." she dimpled with a defiant twinkle in her eyes. "WHY!" both of the two boys exclaimed loudly, barely holding back a barbaric scream. "_Because _I was bored. And Macy's had a sale on jeans. You're _point is?" _ she said in an annoyed voice, crossing her arms after putting her bags down and then raising her eyebrow disapprovingly.

"Our point IS we almost just called the police because we couldn't _find you_!" Josh nearly yelled in disgust. "Pfft, spazzes! Have you ever heard of a cell phone? I had mine on! You could have just called me!" she rolled her eyes. "Liar! Last time I tried to call you, it said you had blocked my number!" Josh shouted back in defense. "…You actually _called her?"_ Drake asked, trying to suppress a giggle. Josh turned his head and glared at his brother until he straightened up and stopped his mild laughter. "Anyway, where the heck did you get money to shop at Macy's with?" Josh asked. "Drake's wallet, where else?" she exclaimed, shrugging with an irritated look.

Drake's eyes narrowed in hatred and he slowly started to move toward the girl. Josh gasped and grabbed his brother, yelling: "DRAKE, DON'T!" Drake struggled to break free from within Josh's arms and all the time continued to yell: "Let me GO! Let me _go!" _"Think of being grounded! GROUNDED!" Josh screamed back, keeping a tight grip on Drake and trying to talk sense in to him at the same time. Then suddenly the magic words slipped from his lips: "Can't date Nita when you're _groundeeeed!" _ Drake stood still for moment and then stopped struggling, as Josh let go of him. But he still glared at the eleven year old in loathefulness as he backed a few steps away.

"Wait a minute… the money that was in _Drake's _ wallet?" Josh asked. "Yeah?" she said. "Good! Because our emergency money that Mom and Dad gave us was in _my_ wallet." he sighed, thankfully. "Um… oops…" Meghan said, smiling a bit of a scared grin. "…What!" Drake growled. "I kind of spent that too…" she explained. "HOW COULD YOU SPEND OVER THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS IN THREE HOURS!" both of the brothers yelled simultaneously, their voices full of anger. The little girl just stared back in annoyance. "I'm… sorry!" "You should be! MAN, Meghan, that money was for important emergencies!" "I know! But it _was_ an emergency!" she said. "What do you mean?" Drake asked in reply. "I _mean,_ The Chronicles of Epona just came out yesterday at the Premiere, that Macy's had all Candies sweaters and aged jeans on fifteen percent off and this cute talking cookie jar was only nineteen ninety five! Hello?" she shrugged, her eyes darting side to side in exasperation as she picked up a cow-shaped plastic cookie jar.

Josh looked in a glare at Drake: "I wonder _where_ she gets this stuff." Drake sighed and held out his hands in helplessness. "I'm so out of here." she said, rolling her eyes and picking up her packages, heading to the kitchen and disappearing through the swinging door.

Drake and Josh stood staring after her, still in heart-racing shock and then they closed their eyes, both shaking their heads at the thought of all she had put them through during the past twenty five hours. Josh had just gotten the will back to speak and was about to say something to his silent brother, but the phone began to ring loudly.

"Great. All we need." Josh muttered, passing Drake by and going to answer the phone himself.

"What 'you want?" he said in to the phone, so frazzled, he had absolutely no desire at all to even ask who it was, nor say the mandatory "Hello".

"Josh? What's the matter? Give me Drake!" Audrey's worried voice exclaimed over the line.

Josh's eyes got large and he quickly shoved the phone toward his brother: "Fa' you!" Drake bit his lip and closed his eyes for a minute, then replacing his decrepit frown with a fake grin: "Hiya, Momma! How's it goin'?"

"Drake, why did you hang up! What's the matter?" she said, skipping straight to the point of her call. "Um, what do ya' mean? The… the signal konked out for a minute!" he giggled, unnaturally.

"You're not on a cell, …are you?" her confused voice spoke in to his ear.

"Umm, no! Actually, I am not! …On a cell! Heh! Um, see, there's this dude outside working on the phone lines. Because there was a really, really big err-- lightning storm. And--and wind! Totally knocked out the phone line for a while." Drake nodded feeling a hot flush rush over his brow.

"Wow, really? How weird! The forecast said it was supposed to be clear over there!" she said.

"Oh, wow! Um, yeah, they were completely wrong. …Nice talkin' to you, love you, merry funeral, bye bye!" he exclaimed extremely fast, hanging up the phone.

When he looked up, Josh was leaning on the table, close in front of his and he shook his head in slight amusement: "Now _that_ ain't gonn'a make her a bit suspicious." Drake began to reply in antagonism, but they both turned to look as they heard the kitchen door "whoosh" and watched as Meghan went toward the stairs with her Macy's bags, glaring back at them.

After she was gone, Drake and his brother sighed and rolled their eyes, walking tiredly to the kitchen to talk and get a snack. Once in the cozy room, Josh picked up and apple from a basket on the counter and sat on a stool, to eat it, beside the marble island in the center of the room. Drake leaned up against the counter and the cabinets above it, letting out a deep breath and saying: "How are we going to survive until tomorrow night?" "Good question. I guess as long as we've got each other, we'll make it. But then again, I don't know about you, but I'm kind of worried about Anita's safety. I see now that if _he_ knows his own good, he'll stay away from your demon possessed little sister." "I am too. But I can't… _can't_ do another all-nighter. It's just over load. I mean, after the soccer game, Chucky Cheddar's, Lyn incident, lost Meghan AND my terrible dream when I got knocked out by that blasted metal face plate, I can't TAKE much more!" "Exactly." Josh nodded, taking a hungry bite from his apple.

Drake turned and leaned over to open the refrigerator, but jumped back and grabbed his heart when suddenly an ear-shattering "MOO!" was heard from inside. "WHAT THE--!" he exclaimed, unintentionally dropping the soda he had grabbed. Looking on the shelf, inside the refrigerator, both Drake & Josh saw the speaking cow cookie jar sitting there. "Stupid cow…" Drake muttered, slamming the door and hearing another muffled 'moo' from inside. "Well," Josh replied optimistically as he reached down to pick up the cola can: "At least this wasn't open to spill everywhere." Drake sighed and nodded: "Yeah." and then reached out, taking the can from his brother, starting to pop it open. "Wait, Drake!--" Josh began, but was interrupted. With a loud hiss, the can shuddered and then an explosion of mocha cola fell from the ceiling on to them as lava would from an erupting volcano. "…The… can might… explode." the dark haired brother said, closing his eyes and finishing his sentence.

"I **_hate_ **that freaking idiot _cow_." Drake muttered, trying to shake the mocha cola off of his hand. "Actually, it's not an idiot… because for that to be true, it'd have to have a brain, but it's just plastic, so technically--" "Be quiet." Drake interrupted. "Will do." Josh sighed, looking down with a frown. "Oh, crap! What time is it anyway? I have to be at school at two thirty to take that test I missed when I was recovering from my ribs!" Drake exclaimed, searching his wrist for a watch and finding none. The two boys looked over at the clock on the oven and read that it was two o four. "I have to be at work in like twenty minutes! CURSE, YOU, MEGHAN DEMON CHILD!" Josh said, shaking a mocha-ed fist toward the ceiling.

"To save time, you go get a shower in Mom and Dad's room and I'll take mine in our room, okay? Just remember to hurry, 'cause I'm so out of here in twelve minutes!" Drake said, barely finishing his sentence before he was gone from the room. "Wait for me!" Josh exclaimed after him, running out to the stairs.

It was rushed, but by some miracle, both of the boys were dressed and groomed within the appointed time. They both grabbed one of Meghan's elbows and dragged her downstairs and out to the car, dropping her in the backseat and planting themselves quickly in the front of Drake's shiny red convertible. "Where. Are. You. Guys. TAKING ME!" Meghan yelled from the back seat. "To Charlise's house, now shut up!" Drake exclaimed in to the back, as he squealed out from the drive way and turned out of their neighborhood. "Well, fine!" she glared, crossing her arms and speaking no more.

Drake sped to Meghan's friend's house, barely even leaving time for her to get out of the car before he sped off toward the highway and the Premiere theatre. "Drake… that was kind of rude to just drop Megs off at someone's house with out calling them first--" "Not interested." Drake cut off Josh's sentence. "Well, I'm not surprised at _that fact,_ but really, if you had just taken like thirty seconds to call them and make sure--" "Fine, you want to call them, call them and tell them that she's there!" the boy who was driving exclaimed, tossing his own cell phone at his step brother. "No… it's really fine." Josh said, rolling his eyes.

Within about five minutes, Drake had pulled up to the front door of the movie theatre and pushed Josh out of the car: "If Anita comes, tell her she can find me at the school." he spoke to the brother who was standing outside of the car. "Okay, sure! And I will--" Josh couldn't finish his sentence because Drake pulled back on the gears, shifting quickly to 'drive' and pulling off, leaving the boy standing by himself on the pavement in front of the building. "And now I'm _alone…_" Josh whimpered, pouting and turning around to walk in to the theatre through the door.


	18. Unexpected Blow

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_If you think I own anything, go to the nearest psychiatrist. Please. As a service to all humanity. _

**Note to Readers: **

_I'm sooooo motivated on writing this story! YAY! It's really fun. Anyway, this chapter is probably going to shock you. Well… the first part anyway. It's certainly not as "shocking" as the 'Dead Laughter' chapter, but it's still like: "WHAT! HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?" And when I let "Heart of a Wizard" (aka Brittney) read the preview to this chapter, she says she cried. ROFL, I didn't think it was THAT emotional, but if you say so, Britt, okay! Here it comes – chapter eighteen; "Unexpected Blow", in mah story! Read and review please! And thank you guys for all the nice reviews already! --grin-- I'll have another chapter up soon, so hope you like this one! 7,412 words!_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Unexpected Blow"; Eighteen_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flashbacks.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** "he's refer to the mysterious man.

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Suddenly Josh's cell phone was ringing again. He bit his lip to keep from growling in annoyance—his brother had called him twice already from his class at school just to talk about how boring it was there, and now he dared to call back again? Sighing and shaking his head, Josh let it ring six more times, wondering if his brother would EVER hang up on his own. But yet, it _continued_ to chime in his pocket and he was finally forced to answer it when movie goers began to stare hear it and started staring at him in confusion, at the ring tone. As he looked down, he grabbed it out of his pocket, pushing "talk", muttering an annoyed and embarrassed: "WHAT?" through clenched teeth.

"Jooosh?" Drake voice chuckled over the phone in his usual, happy boy-ish manner.

"_Yes._" his highly aggravated brother hissed.

"What up?" came the giddy reply.

"You, apparently." Josh answered, rolling his eyes.

"What's you're problem, dude?" Drake frowned, raising an eyebrow and grinning in to the cell phone as he sat in a plastic chair, waiting for his teacher to return from where ever she had gone.

"Well, I dunno, maybe my problem is that you've CALLED ME OVER AND OVER UNTIL PEOPLE ARE STARING AT ME!" Josh whispered lethally in to the telephone.

"What—a guy can't call his own brother on the phone when he wants to talk to him?"

"In your case, I have to say… _no!"_ Josh said in a flat tone: "Anyway, why are you calling me? You're supposed to be taking that test, are you not!"

"Ugh. Dude, my teacher's not here. Don't ask me why, but she left me alone in this room and she hasn't come back." Drake shrugged, rolling his eyes.

"Who blames her? She probably couldn't take another minute of tryin' to do the impossible—teaching you!" Josh muttered.

"Well, it's been like ten minutes. And I'm hungry. Why don'tcha go by Blimpie and pick me up a double cheese – bacon melt, 'kay?" Drake said.

"DRAKE, I'm at WORK! I can't just go over to Blimpie and grab you a 'melt'! There are people that I have to help and serve! It's called a '_job_'! Go getcha' own sandwich!" the brother exclaimed loud enough for Helen to appear from behind a corner and say a very harsh: "HUSH, BOY!"

"Whatever, Josh. I'm so out of here though. I'm gonn'a go pick up some stuff at the mall."

"Such as what?" Josh sighed, feeling all the sudden very parental.

"Such as… stuff!"

"Thank you _oh_ so much." Josh moaned roughly, then continuing: "Why don't you get us some groceries instead? I mean, we have like nothing in the refrigerator to eat until tomorrow night."

"Sure! What should I buy?" the voice replied in to his ear.

"I don't know! What do you _eat?"_ the other brother shrugged.

"Chocolate chips, Chips Aweigh cookies, slim Joe's, candy corn, nacho cheeser teasers, Smarties, Oreos, those fake onion rings thingies, barbeque--" Drake began to name off just a few of his favorites, but was interrupted by Josh: "NEVERMIND! _I'll buy the food, later._"

"Weeeell, I better go ahead and split this place 'fore teach' gets back. Bye, bye Mister 'Nichols'!" And with this sentence, Drake cut off the cell, leaving no time enough even for Josh to reply at all. With an annoyed face, Josh snapped the cell phone shut and went toward Helen's incessant voice which was yelling loudly for him. But before he could reach the yelling woman, somebody reached out and caught his arm, making him swerve to see who it was.

"Oh my gosh! James-- from the wreck! Hey, man, how are you?-!" Josh exclaimed, grabbing the slightly older man in a quick, friendly hug. "Josh! I'm great! How are you?" James replied with the same, kind smile as he had given to Josh the terrible day of the car accident, almost four and a half weeks ago. "I'm awesome! I'm actually a little sleepy, but that's all! You see, me and Drake are taking care of our little eleven year old sis while the parents are away for a funeral in Nevada." the teen nodded, with a grin. "Oh, yes! I saw her when your dad came the day of the wreck. So you say _Drake_ and you are baby sitting? I guess he's well then!" James said, leaning against the counter of the snack bar. "Yeah! He's doing so well! The pain apparently is all gone from his ribs and everything and he's his usual… junky, lazy self." Josh added, with a tired chuckle. "Well, gosh it's great to have run in to you here! I haven't eaten today and I just popped in here to watch a movie and get a little bit of lunch. Would you mind very much sitting with me at my table and filling me in on all that's happened with you guys since I last saw you?" Josh smiled and then suddenly stopped, when Helen called his name. "Look, just take off that vest for a minute and sit with me and she'll never guess you even work here." James laughed, understanding the relationship between the boss and employee. Josh laughed too and took the man's food order, handing his the food and then after removing his vest, he came from behind the circular counter and sat with his slightly new friend.

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Drake had barely made it through the long school hall and out to his convertible with out running in to his teacher, but when he did, he jumped behind the wheel and sped off as fast as he could from the school, toward the house. He had decided to wait until later to go to the mall and just enjoy the empty house, now. That way he'd have even more time by himself as long as Josh didn't decide to come along with Megs.

It was only minutes before he hurriedly pulled the keys from his pocket and unlocked the front door, popping inside and slamming it behind him with a victorious "WAHOO!" and a slight sense of freedom and happiness for the first time in about three or four days. And it felt so good to be finally alone, by himself in the house and able to do anything he wanted.

To celebrate, he took a running slide to the kitchen and threw open the refrigerator in search of something special. Grabbing the large two liter bottle of Dr. Fizz and striding to the TV in the next room, he turned it on and plugged in the game sphere. He poured himself an over-sized glass of the bubbling soft drink and reached over to flip on the CD player, which he had rigged a while ago to play through the TV's speakers. He turned the volume up to an ear-shattering 'ten' and sang along loudly with the cd of his band as he gulped down a slug of soda and grabbed up the video game controller.

Drake was really having a great time with his loud cd, loud video game, and sizzling drink, but suddenly everything came to a screeching halt when the corded telephone in the kitchen began to ring mercilessly. "Uggggh!" he moaned, throwing down his game sphere controller and hopping off of the couch, slowly stalking to where the phone jangled on the wall.

Grabbing it up off of the hook, he said a loud: "Huh?" in to the speaker, trying to speak more forcefully than his ear-shattering music. "Dwake! Oh, poowr guy!" Lyn's voice cracked over the line. "…What! I can't hear ya!" "I said--" "Hold on, I'LL BE RIGHT BACK. I GOTTA TURN DOWN THIS MUSIC." he said, still not knowing who it was, as he set down the phone and ran off out of the kitchen.

Lyn heard the overpowering music suddenly come to a stop and then after a moment, heard the teen age boy pick the instrument back up and speak: "Now, who is this, again?" "Oh, Dwake, it's Wyn. I'm cawling becawse I had to… I have to teww you something awfuwl." the girl's lispy voice replied with a deeply sincere, tearful tone to it. "…I don't know how to stawt it's so bawd!" "Wait... How _bad?"_ he said slowly, glancing despondently over at his cd player and Dr. Fizz, hardly wanting those happy things to be spoiled by some sort of terrible news. "Oh gowsh, Dwake…" the girl stopped because as it sounded, she had become teary-eyed. "What is it?" the sixteen year old asked, becoming more curious all the time. "It's about Aniwta!" the girl cried in a deep voice. "--What about her? What's happened to her?" he murmured, frowning and gripping the edge of the counter in sudden worry. "Nothing has happened to her, really… I mean, she's not hurt or anything… but she's--she's changed so much! Oh, Drake, how can she do that to you?" the girl replied in apparent misery. "Do… what?" he quipped, feeling his heart race and his chest tighten.

"She's… she's been cheating on you." the slow and dreadful words formed themselves in his mind and he realized what they meant. "You mean, my… my Anita is dating somebody else?" he asked, feeling his heart sink almost a whole mile. "Oh, Dwake, I don't want to hurt you by telling you this. I can't believe it's true, either, but I saw it with my own eyes. I… I towt Anita was a towtal for steawing you, but I atweast towt that she'd stick with you! I mean, I didn't even evew imagine that anyone would thiwnk about dowble deawing you." the girl answered. "Then… she is dating somebody else?" Drake mumbled, almost incoherent with sadness and shrinking in his soul.

"Well… that's the wowst pawt. I don't think she's dawting him, but… but she was definatwy…" "Definitely what?" he asked, wondering what on earth she was going to say to add to make this crisis any worse. "I don't think I can teww you!" she said, in a highly demurring and angst - filled voice. "Seriously, Lyn, I want to know it all. I have to, now. Tell me what you saw, and… and tell me who this guy was." Drake said, almost dazedly feeling his way to the kitchen stool and sitting down before his knees melted under him. "Evewyting?" she asked, softly. "Everything." came the sure answer.

"I… was at the Pwemiewe, seeing a movie with Kelly Schafer," she began, making Drake wince at the name. This had been a previous girlfriend that he had barely been able to get rid of. She had had a problem with giggling all the time, and to make it worse, her Mother had turned out to be Drake's highly rude teacher which he loathed. With a quick thought of how glad he was to be rid of her, he shook himself slightly awake and spoke in to the phone: "Go on." "Well, we where watching the movie, and we were going to go in to the movie postew gawwewy hall-- you know, where they have postews of all the movies they've shown in the wast year?" "Yes." "So we went in side kind of qwietwy, and it was a wittle dawk. So we were walking down the wong hawl and then we heard somebody talking weawwy softwy. After a second, I weawized Niwta's voice, so I peeked awound the corner and saw hew. But she… she wasn't awone." "I'm okay… tell me the rest." Drake said, in a low voice.

"She was with…" the girl paused for a moment and then continued in a truthfully upset voice: "She was with Josh, Dwake." "…What?" the boy said, barely believing what she had just said, and standing up in shock, as he wondered if this girl was talking sense. "I'm so sowwy." she murmured, apparently feeling for the broken heart of the teenager. "What--what were they doing?" he managed to gasp, with his eyes glazing over in deep hurt. "Pwease… don't ask that." she pleaded quietly. "No, tell me. I know too much not to know what he was doing with her." "He was… _they were_ definitely not just tawking like fwiends. He was kissing her and hugging her-- and Dwake, I would have towd them to stop, but… but I couldn't. I didn't even want to tell you. I'm… sowwy. I know she woved you." the girl seemed quiet and understanding for once. "No she didn't, Lyn. But don't worry about me… it wasn't you're fault. I've got to go think about this." With nothing else said but those words that were trussed up with shock, he hung up the phone and barely realized that he had walked up the stairs, when he reached his room.

He walked over to his bed and climbed the ladder in a deeply stunned fashion. As he sat down near the pillow and gazed off in to the ceiling for a minute, he noticed that he hardly even knew how to react to this blow. He looked wearily over at his night table and stopped moving completely for a moment. His heart wilted at the sight of this tiny object and he felt his whole body tingle with heart break as he bent over to lift it delicately up within his fingers. It was a small wire bracelet that Anita had left laying on the couch earlier, that day. He had found it as he and his brother had turned off the lights and picked up their trash and then he had put it there, beside his bed.

"_Why did you have to leave me, Nita? You were the only one for me. Ever. But yet you left me in the time I most needed you! Was it because of me? Did I act too aloof? Perhaps I should have guarded my heart even more! Then possibly it wouldn't hurt so bad loosing you… to him._" Immediately after thinking this, a desperate pain race up through his stomach and across his heart, making him wince in pain and drop to the bed. Perhaps the pain was just psychological, but he still knew it was his heart splitting for her.

"_How could you do this Josh? I thought you loved me! I thought you cared about if I made it out alright and away from him with a mended heart, not a broken one! Were they all lies? Was it all one huge lie when you hugged me? When you comforted me from my tears, was it all just pretending?" _This wrenching deliberation made him moan out a shivery breath and he couldn't help but murmur as hot tears filled his eyes again: "I thought you cared about me, Josh…"

It was _Anita_ that had been his path toward healing peace. Josh had been a path too, at times, but now Drake was seeing lies in everything his step brother had ever tried to comfort him with. "Oh, Josh… why did you have to turn out like _him?_ I can't stand it… I can't take it." Drake whispered grievingly in to his pillow as his eyes grew wet with full blown tears. Now all his support was gone. He had found solace in the beautiful teenage girl, but she didn't admire him anymore. Meghan was, well… Meghan and very obviously could care less about what he felt. And now… Josh had become a familiar monster. He had cared so little for his own brother that he had taken his only love for himself and disregarded everything that their brotherhood had meant for the past two and a half years.

"_What will I do? I can't date anyone else. I don't want anyone else but her. I can't believe what's she done to me… yet I love her so much. I've just got to stop it-- I can't let her in to my heart. It already hurts and I've never even told her how I feel yet. But I won't tell her, now. I would only be making a useless fool out of myself for the third time in my life. So now I won't let any more emotions show, because when I get a feeling about somebody-- Josh or Anita-- I just keep getting hurt. Well no more, I can't take it._" Drake thought these things and then slowly sat up, looking out of the window at the head of his bed. With a deep, hasty breath inward, he wiped his tears from his face and turned to jump down from the ladder, returning downstairs to get a sip of his drink and hopefully stop the burning in his throat long enough so that he could sort out his feelings.

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Drake had been laying on the couch, trying to figure out what he was gong to do. After all, Josh would eventually come home from work and he'd have to plan what he was going to say, if anything, to him, and how he was going to act. He felt so bitter that he hardly even wanted to see Josh again for a long period, but all at the same time, he felt as if he wanted to yell on and on and make Josh see how terrible he was. But it was all such a bother, and he was so mentally tired. "_Should I tell him I know? Or should I just stay away from him? Surely he'll notice something's the matter with me, so perhaps he'll realize how wrong he was and apologize. But I don't even want him to apologize! I don't even ever want to talk to him again!"_

He had begun to tire and he laid his head against the back cushion of the couch, wearily. A soft fragrance drifted to him and he jerked back from the pillow, then realizing what it was. It was the scent of Anita's perfume. She had slept here for a while, early this morning and now the sofa smelled like her cologne. The very thought of her caused yet another wave of ache to pass over his frail heart as his eyes brimmed with tears, and he felt his body weaken and he bent feebly, his face pressing in to the soft cushion. He muttered a pathetic murmur of torment, when he breathed in a sweet breath of the aroma.

He lay there, almost completely depleted, for maybe ten or fifteen minutes. He was very sleepy and was only half awake, for a long time, but then suddenly his eyes snapped open and his heart skipped a beat. A sound rattled across the room and a rapid breeze of cold air blew across his back, causing his to shiver deeply. He was afraid to turn and look for a moment, but as soon as he did, all he saw was something red flying toward his face and a voice that said: "Hiya, brotha!" Drake reached up and pulled the movie theater uniform of a vest from over his head. Placing it beside him, he brought his knees up to his chest and hunched over, in the corner of the couch, not being able to say anything but a barely heard: "Hi…"

Josh grinned and said: "Scottie and Trevor decided to drive me home so I didn't have to bother you. So, what up? Did'ya pick up some girls at the mall?" "I… didn't go to the mall." Drake murmured, vaguely, as he looked away and stood up in a slightly dejected manner. "Oh, ya didn't?" Josh said, beginning to walk toward the couch, but his sleeve caught on the table and something dropped to the floor, covering his arm in a wet substance. Looking over, he saw the empty glass of Dr. Fizz laying on the floor and a half full tub of popcorn sitting on the coffee table: "…No, I see that you… didn't go to the mall."

Drake stood, staring at the floor for a minute and then Josh spoke: "I would have said hello to Anita for you, but she didn't come by the theater today." The other boys eyes widened and he lifted his head, gathering his brows deeply together as he stared his brother in the eyes from across the room.

"_You… you liar! Why do you have to lie too? On top of everything you've done to me, now you tell me that you haven't even seen Anita today? I've never heard anything so disgusting, Josh Nichols. The very thought of you with her, turns my stomach. How could you do that?"_

Drake let out a swift, deeply disturbed and heated breath and then turned from the boy who had broken his heart. With out another word, he raced across the floor and up the stairs, in to his room. He was glad to escape his brother's presence and felt that if he had to speak one more word to him, he'd either break down or do something extreme.

He just sat on his bed on his knees, staring listlessly out of his window as he tried to figure out what to do. He waited for a few minutes, as his heart raced and he expected Josh to poop through the door any moment, pretending to ask what was 'wrong'. But ten minutes went by with out even the slightest sound. Drake stirred from his state of hazy thoughts when he suddenly hear a rumble from something in the garage. He listened in confusion for a second and then gathered enough strength to climb from atop his tall bed and jump down to the carpeted floor, hurrying over to the other window, and looking out.

Within only an instant, his face was crowded with an even more unbelieving and shocked face than before. As he gazed out of the window, down toward the garage, he saw his own car slide from within the open garage door and when he looked hard enough, he saw Josh inside. Drake felt hurt fill his spirit and he turned slowly from the window as the red vehicle pulled from the drive way and headed down the road.

"_He just… he just left me alone. Even after I was obviously so very upset? But he didn't even care enough to ask me if I was okay! At least that would have been a bit of comfort! Instead he just took off in my__ car, with out asking me if he could, after he already wrecked his own car with me in it!"_

Drake was highly upset because all of the sudden he seemed to be uncovering all of these hidden truths about his formerly pretty much 'good' brother, whom he had trusted with so much. He felt a breath emerge painfully from his lungs and he pressed a palm to his forehead, sweeping it under his soft bangs and covering his sizzling eyes. "Why is this happening?" the over wrought teenager murmured in an extremely fatigued whisper as he leaned against the cold metal tubing ladder on his bed and closed his eyes for a few minutes.

He knew when he opened his eyes again that he needed to get out of this dratted house and go out-- somewhere were he could think for a few hours before making any moves. He knew he had to confront Josh about the entire matter very soon, and that the discussion was rather immanent, but he simply _had_ to get out of this house to think for a while. Looking with a fleeting glance out the window and toward the empty garage, Drake bit his lip. No car. He hurried downstairs and to the kitchen, where the silent telephone hung on the wall, with the intention of calling somebody to pick him up and take him _somewhere._

He grabbed it up and decided to call Trevor. Though the thought of riding in the same car that Josh had ridden in earlier made him cringe, he dialed the number quickly and leaned against the smooth wall, waiting for someone to pick up.

"Hello?"

All of a sudden Drake's spine shuddered and a chill rushed through him, recognizing the voice.

"W--who is this?" he asked in to the phone, with confusion, even though he already knew who it indeed, was.

"Drake! Hi, sweetie! How are you?" the femininely delicate voice hushed through his ears, making him close his eyes once again in unbelief and yet heaven at the same time.

"…Anita? I--I'm sort of, um-- almost okay…" he stuttered in to the receiver, hardly believing that he had dialed the number that he had imprinted in to his mind.

"_I wasn't ever going to put myself through the temptation of her voice again! But it… it is so very innocent and beautiful. How could she have done anything with Josh?"_

"Well, what's that supposed to mean?" she giggled.

"What?" he mumbled, shaking his head and snapping out of his thoughts, as he gripped the phone and tried to clear his mind enough to speak properly.

"I said what's 'I'm sort of uuuum almost okay' mean!" she repeated, laughing a single chuckle and then quietly waiting for an answer.

What Drake replied with next was something he hadn't even expected to come from his own lips, much less had she, when he said them:

"Anita, why did you make out with my own brother? I thought we two had an understanding… I mean, I thought you and me kind of were going to go together for--"

"_What did you just say?"_ she exclaimed in an extremely low voice.

"You know what I said." he replied, biting his lip and looking down with a frown.

"No, I really don't! I thought you said something about me making out with Josh!" she laughed, with a hollow and slightly condescending voice.

"I did. But please don't lie to me any more. It's all already hurt me so bad. I can maybe understand if you didn't want to go exactly steady with me and wanted to be able to date other people, but you cold have at least told me _something. _Or he could have! …Didn't either of you ever consider what I would feel like when I found out you and he were meeting in secret so I wouldn't know about you and him?" Drake replied, the words forming themselves almost with out his even thinking about them.

"Drake--**_what_** are you talking about?-!" she almost shouted in to the phone in a shaky voice.

"Anita, I don't think this is getting either of us anywhere and--"

"Drake Parker, I demand to know what on God's green earth you're referring to!" she exclaimed, sounding as if she was about to crack.

"You betrayed me and made out with my brother this afternoon at the premiere. Lyn told me about it in detail--and she knows what she's talking about." Drake replied, feeling another burst of throbbing explode in his chest.

"What the--Lyn?-! HOW I HATE THAT GIRL! You don't _BELIEVE her_ do you?" the teen age girl nearly shouted over the phone.

"Look, Anita, I can't talk to you about this right now." he replied in a shivering voice.

"No way! I will talk about this right now! I will _not_ hang up until you tell me what the heck this crap is all about!"

"No, Nita…"

"Yes Nita! I am going to find out--"

"Please, don't start this." he pleaded, knowing he would more than likely break down with another word of such harshness from her.

"Drake Parker I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT--"

Drake couldn't handle anymore and he knew it. Slowly he pulled the phone from his ear and breathed in a deep breath as he stopped listening and gradually managed to set it down on the hook, finally hanging up. He waited a long time it seemed, before he picked it back up and slowly dialed Trevor, making sure it was the correct number this time.

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With a distinct click on the other end of the line, Anita's face quickly went from slightly enraged to a amazed and slightly scared look, as her eyes opened wide when the dial tone began to sound. She listened to the long, deep tone for a minute and then she put down the phone, in stunned wonder. She had been sitting on her couch through out the first part of the conversation, and had stood up when she became upset. Now she clumsily flopped back down on to the couch, in a sudden rush of tears.

A thousand thoughts where screeching through her head at the same time in an unbelievable speed.

"I… I just got hung up on by Drake!" her mind whirled. "What did I do?" she murmured verbally, through her tremendously stinging, large tears. "Made out with Josh?-! Oh, Dear God, why must that girl be here? Now that he believes her lies, he'll probably end up turning to _her_ for 'comfort'! But he can't hate me for something I never did! I wouldn't make out with his brother in a million years!" she continued to think. "Drake," she whispered, grabbing up a tiny picture of him that she'd cut out of the year book, off of her side table and looking closely at the image, though the sobs, managing to murmur the things she wished she could tell him face to face, so badly: "Baby, I never meant to hurt you… I just-- just love you so much that I can't stand you to think anything bad of me! But, I guess I've made it all even worse now, haven't I? Why must this keep happening to us? All of these lies keep getting in our way and we can't get back to each other for more than a few weeks. Drake, sweetheart… I love you so much! I don't want you're heart to hurt so bad."

With that, she drew a finger down the side of the picture and felt a big tear splash down from her eye on to her arm as she tried to find a way to get back in to his trust and put a complete end to these terrible lies.

But suddenly she froze as an important thought struck her--

Josh!

"Oh, no! Drake thinks that _he_ and I were-- so he'll try and blame Josh too! I have to warn him! If I don't, Josh might really say something he doesn't mean and then Drake will be so hurt!" With a unexpected burst of strength, she jumped up from the couch and started across the long room. Drying her tears and wearing an tremendously seriously look on her face, she grabbed up her coat and threw it on, hurrying out the door with her keys, toward her car. She knew she had to reach Josh before Drake had it out with him. Even if she had to have it out with him by herself.

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Josh himself was rather puzzled as he drove down the road. He had wanted to go see what was the matter with Drake, upstairs, because after all, he had acted very upset and introverted. But he had had to hurry and take some things to Meghan at Charlise's house. Charlise's parents had been kind enough to offer that Meghan stay the night at their house when they learned that the boys had gone with out much sleep last night and that their parents were away. Josh had run upstairs after Drake's outburst, and gotten some clothes and toothpaste, etc. from Meghan's room and realized he had to have them to her in only about fifteen minutes, so he had decided to hold off on questioning Drake until he returned from his venture. And anyway, perhaps if something was bothering his brother, he'd have time to cool off before Josh talked to him about it.

He was on his way back from the little girl's friend's house and he had started to ponder the possible reason Drake could be feeling so down. But the real reason, he would have never imagined in a million tries.

But what he was even more confused when he pulled up in the driveway to find Anita's car parked in the open garage and the girl standing outside the front door, shivering from head to toe. But of course, it wasn't because of cold, in _San Diego,_ although it was September, but it was of weak angst and anticipation.

"Nita! Why are you here out in the chilly air? Won't Drake let you in?" Josh exclaimed, running up quickly to her. "I-- don't know! I knocked over and over and over and even shouted to him inside, but there's no answer. "What's the matter?" Josh replied, instantly noticing the glistening cheeks of the girl, wet with tears. "He called me earlier and we fought-- he heard a rumor about you and me and he believes it solidly! I tried to talk with him about it over the phone, but when I became a bit too excited, he hung up and now he won't open the door. Josh, I'm… I'm scared that maybe he's done something to--" Josh's eyes grew as big as saucers and he ripped the keys tremblingly from his pocket and plunged them in to the key hole. Even though he had a very clumsy hand at the moment, it only took them maybe ten seconds to get the door unlocked and then it flew open before them.

Both teens walked in, slowly, almost afraid of what they'd find when they began looking for him. They called out his name frantically and rushed all about the cold, dank house, searching for him. But he was no where to be found.

"Josh-- what will we do? He's not here! Where is he?-!" she spoke in a hushed voice, feeling fear rip through her body and goose bumps form themselves on the back of her neck. "I don't know! Maybe he went somewhere with Trevor or Scottie-- the car wasn't here, so it's most likely he called them." Josh said, and the two raced to the kitchen telephone.

Josh picked it up and began to dial the well known number of their friends. "Who else would he might have gotten to pick him up other than them?" he asked the girl who stood, biting her finger nails nervously. "Maybe… maybe Lyn." she barely heard her own worried voice say.

They both waited in silence for someone to pick up the phone at Trevor's house, but no one did. "Nita, they don't answer. They must have gotten him and taken him somewhere he wanted to go. I… I hope so anyway." the boy said, after another quietness.

"So, who was this person that started this rumor about… you and me? And what exactly _was_ the rumor-- if you don't mind my asking?" he continued on, now understanding why Drake was dissing him so terribly earlier. "Come on in to the living room and I'll tell you all I know about." she sighed, motioning to the swinging door.

After they both had entered the room and sat down across from each other, Anita began to relay the message that Drake had told her over the phone. Josh's face held an unbelieving, shocked and slightly embarrassed face the entire time and he finally exclaimed: "But that's not even logical! I _was _at the premiere, but I was having lunch with my friend James all afternoon! What a crazy, preposterous story! Why would you and I ever-- I mean, I know _very _well that you're Drake's girl!" "Well… I don't even know if I am anymore. I don't know if he'll ever trust me again. But I guess this is my punishment for believing that rumor about him and that other girl, last year." she answered slowly, in a deeply sadden voice. "Aww, Anita, once we find some way to prove it, he'll believe you. I won't rest until all this business is cleared up." Josh sighed, patting her shoulder and shaking his head: "But I don't understand why he believed it so easily! There's absolutely no truth to it all! How could he put trust in something so insane?" "I really don't know. I wish I could make him believe the _truth_ though. I also wish that stupid Lyn didn't have such an in for me. She should have known that he was my boyfriend, I mean, I was with him everyday after the wreck almost!" the girl exclaimed in a semi irritated voice.

"I'm worried about Drake. I mean, what if he's so bitter that he won't listen to anything we try to explain to him? And also, taking off from here with out telling anybody or leaving a note is not like him at all." Josh said after a while. "I know. I'm majorly worried. When I was talking to him on the phone he seemed like right on the verge of the break point. He sounded all choked up and tired and… gosh, I hope he'll just listen for five seconds to us."

Josh explained to her how he had told Meghan that he'd be there with her clothes and bathing suit at a certain time so she could swim in Charlise's heated indoor pool and stay over the night, so he had to hurry back with them and when Drake had walked so coldly and quickly off to his room, he hadn't had a chance to check on him. Anita bit her lip and then nodded: "That probably mad him even more angry. Oh, boy, this is going to be terrible." Josh looked slightly upset himself: "I certainly didn't mean to hurt his feelings by not checking on him. I meant to when I came back home, but as you see, he wasn't here. I hope he's not too miffed!" "Don't worry about it Josh. It might take him a while, but I think _eventually_ he'll see that us doing such a terrible thing as that would be quite outrageous." she said with a little crumb of worry falling off her burden, perhaps.

All of the sudden, the phone in the kitchen began to ring. "Oh!" Anita exclaimed, jumping up with Josh: "That might be him! Maybe he'll listen to me, now." With a nod as a reply from the boy beside her, she and he both took of quickly across the room, in to the kitchen and hurried to answer the jangling telephone.

"Drake?" the girl asked, quickly, answering the call.

"Wh--what?-! Aniwta! Um, what arew you doing thewe?" a high pitched voiced exclaimed in to the teen age girl's ear, loud enough for Josh to hear everything. His eyes became slightly more open and he whistled in a low tone: "Oh, boy… the mental patient returns for the kill."

"…I came over because Drake told me the exact thing you had told him. I can't believe that you caught us… I mean, I thought that we would have been able to keep it a secret." Anita replied in to the receiver, narrowing her eyes and smirking with only evil in her amused mind. Josh chuckled and listened carefully for Lyn's reply.

"I--what? What… did you sawy?" she said, almost sounding stunned.

"You know, once you saw us making out, you should have really stopped watching and kept quiet. It was none of your business. I just found Josh so attractive and I was going to break up with Drake tonight. So now you've really messed up the whole thing." the pleased teen girl replied, acting at her best for Lyn.

"…Oh. I'm--I'm sowwy! I didn't mean to do twat! I um, I-- I have to go! Bye!" the girl stuttered slowly, then finally hanging up.

Anita and Josh began to laugh very hard, even through their worry and she exclaimed; "DID YOU HEAR HER? She sounded so disturbed and confused!" "What a ditz. HA, that was so great. I needed _something_ to make me laugh and that hit the spot." he shook his head, his laughter calming down a little bit. "Oh, that was fun, but I'm afraid it doesn't take away from the fact that Drake's going to be furious at us. And he'll never listen to anything." she said, letting one last, weak chuckle escape from her lips before sighing.

They had both begun to walk back through the doorway of the kitchen, in to the foyer area and back to their chairs to discuss the matter further, but they only managed to get to the edge of the rug, before stopping dead in their tracks. They heard the door behind them open and a burst of cold air hit their backs, as it was heard shutting loudly again. Both Anita and Josh knew that it was Drake, but they still felt a frightened fear shiver through them as they slowly turned around to look.

The familiar frame of the teen age boy was seen at the door, but he hadn't seen _them_ yet on account of the fact that he was leaning his head down to take the keys out of the door knob. Nita watched him in anticipation as he struggled to pull out his keys, and his soft brunette hair waved over his eyes as he bent down. Finally the metal lock loosened and he pulled the object from the door, pulling the key ring in to his pocket and stepping forward, looking up as he pushed the door closed.

His eyes widened and he stopped walking slowly as he saw them, standing there, beside each other, only about five or ten feet from him. The door behind him shut loudly with a gust of wind from outside and caused Anita to jump as both she and Josh had locked gazes with the teen boy who was standing by himself, looking back and forth to each of them: "Anita… what are you doing here?" His voice was less emotional, but still brisk and cold, and his eyes showed the sheen of more a hurt little boy then those of a sixteen year old.

"Drake, it's not what you think—I just came to try and figure out with Josh how we could exp—" Anita had begun to speak, after a moment of watching Drake's highly suspicious face, but then he stopped her: "Listen, I don't want to talk about it. …You guys have already hurt me more than enough." With a deeply wounded look at his step brother, he paused for a minute and frowned, shrugging out of his jacket and letting it fall to the floor as he walked past them, to the stairs and up them to the solace of his room, hoping neither of them would follow.


	19. Face to Face

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_If you think I own anything, go to the nearest psychiatrist. Please. As a service to all humanity. _

**Note to Readers: **

_This chapter is creepy. Well, at least, that's what I want it to be. If it disappoints you, me sorry. Happy 2006 everyone! I hope I can make you freaked with this chapter. BWHAHAA! _

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Face to Face"; Nineteen_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flashbacks.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** "he's refer to the mysterious man.

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As Drake sat alone on his bed, facing the wall and focusing wholly on keeping himself together, he felt for the first time that he hardly ever wanted to see Anita again. It was a very deep and exhausting mix of emotions that he felt toward her—not pure hatred, but not quite love either. He _wanted_ to love her, but he knew that he couldn't after what she had done to him. And even with his own_ brother._ How heartless could she be?

But in Josh's case, he _knew_ that he never wanted to have to look at his face again. If he had, he would have been so blinded by this rumor that he would have only seen a liar—a treacherer, not the truly innocent and worried brother that Josh really was.

Suddenly a sound behind him brought his eyes back in to focus and he snapped out of his thoughts, gasping an earnestly startled breath. He had begun to think it had just been his imagination and he wasn't going to bother turning around to look, but then, unexpectedly, another noise was heard closer behind him and something warm touched his back. He jumped and spun around, in a jittery snap, genuinely shaken. You would have thought that seeing the fact that it was only his brother that stood on the ladder to his bed, would have calmed him down, but indeed, it did nothing of the kind. "Hey, Drake—" Josh began in a soft, caring voice, but being instantly cut off by the other boy: "What do you want?" Drake sounded more helpless than angry. "…I want to listen." Josh answered, reaching over and laying a gentle hand on his step brother's knee. Drake froze and closed his eyes in pain, unable to move for a moment. When he managed to, he slid further back on the bed, out of his brother's reach: "Listen to what?" "Anything you're willing to talk about. I know you're really upset, but I also know that deep down inside, you're upset about something more than just this silly rumor. I can see it in your face." Josh answered, climbing to last step and sitting beside the vulnerable teen ager.

Drake frowned a hurt frown and shook his head, giving a weary blink, as he slowly rose and began to climb down from the bed: "I… I don't want to talk to _you._" Josh winced and felt his heart start to pump, at the sound of Drake's voice almost cracking. "Listen, you can't do this, brother—I would _never_ even imagine hurting you like I would if I took Anita from you!" he said, also shaking his head, in disbelief: "You actually believe that—" "Josh, I'm not talking to you about it—or about anything! I just don't want to have anything to do with someone who would hurt me so much! If you wanted Anita, the half decent thing to do would have been to tell me, instead of going behind my back and trying to take her from me!" Drake cried, jumping down from the ladder and turning, taking a few steps from the bed and looking at his brother with a deeply wounded look. "Drake!" Josh replied, all of the sudden loosing his cool and letting out a harsh yell: "Stop it!"

Drake's eyes widened in fear and he stood stock still as Josh jumped down, coming face to face with him: "I'm not going to let you keep on believing stupid lies! I never did anything with Anita! I knew she was yours and I was never interested in her more than a friend! How can you do this to _me_?-! You of all people should know how it is to be blamed with something like that that you didn't know! You're—you're just as stupid as Anita was when she thought you were with Stephanie. I'm so disappointed in you, Drake Parker!" Josh finished his loud, heart stopping rant, and frowned deeply as he watched his step brother's face.

The next intense few seconds were gripped hard with almost unfathomable emotion. Drake's brown eyes were big and dilated with the same fear that had been instilled deep in him since he was only a little child, but that Josh had never seen. Even when he had seen Drake cry _hard_ before, he had never seen such blatant fear written on his face. Drake just kept staring on, with the same shocked, terrified eyes, at his brother who stood only a few inches from him, breathing harshly.

Finally, after maybe twenty seconds, his eye brows moved in to a hurting, violated frown and his eyes closed as he bent over, falling to the floor with a loud thud. Josh felt his heart skip a few beats and he gasped, realizing that Drake couldn't have possibly been able to handle what he had dished out. "Drake…" he murmured, dropped to his knees beside the boy that lay beside him, in a heap on the floor. Josh felt everything melt in to a blur around him and he wrapped an arm around his brother's waist and the other around his shoulders, drawing him up and standing, with Drake's limp body draped in his arms. He carried his brother toward his own bed and had barely laid him in it before a voice made his head snap up: "Josh!"

Anita stood in their doorway, staring in shock toward the unconscious boy lying in the bed: "What—what happened?" she exclaimed, running over beside the bed and dropping down beside the boy whom she loved so much. "Anita, I lost control—I shouted at him—and he was so near the breaking point that he passed out in to the floor." Josh said, not taking his eyes off of his brother. Anita let out a worried breath and exclaimed: "Oh, my poor Drake…" She motioned for Josh to lift the boy's weary head and she slid beneath him, placing his head in her lap and stroking his face, trying to wake him. "What's his pulse like?" she managed to murmur. Josh, who was barely able to restrain tears, reached out and took Drake's thin wrist in his hand: "It's alright." But even after he told Anita this, he still held to him, gazing fearfully at his brother's closed eyes. "Josh—" Anita began, and he felt a hand on his shivering shoulder, so he looked up to see her looking back at him: "Don't worry, Josh. He had to process his emotions sometime, and if this was the way it had to happen, it'll turn out for the better. And when he wakes up, I bet you two will be feeling much better about talking it out."

"Anita... even if that's true, I don't know about it myself. I mean-- I've really emotionally hurt him! So bad that he even fainted! He's a healthy, strong sixteen year old-- he shouldn't just suddenly pass out." Josh said, standing and turning his face to the side, so he didn't have to look at the boy lying motionlessly across the mattress, to whom he'd caused considerable hurt. "Josh..." the girl's voice said slowly, as she carefully moved from under Drake and stood, walking beside the other teen age boy, laying a kind hand on his shuddering arm: "If ever had a more loving brother than Drake has of you, I haven't seen it. If you would actually care about him, even when he is accusing you of something terrible-- then there's no way he can go very long with out realizing how much that's true... and how much that rumor about us _isn't._" For a second, Josh actually let a little smile float to his lips and her turned to her, looking at her with thankful eyes: "He's got a pretty good girlfriend, too, Nita. ...Thanks for everything you've done for him-- even if you and I never understand what has hurt him so badly in his past." The girl only smiled back and then they both glanced back toward the boy on the bed.

Stepping over to him, Anita left Josh in the middle of the room, and bent to sit on the bed, beside him. Sadness filled her eyes and she shook her head slowly, whispering almost under her breath: "If only I knew what to do for you..." "Nita, I--I really don't think I should be here when he wakes up. Maybe if... maybe if you just stay with him for a while, while I go downstairs and wait. When he wakes up, you could maybe tell him how much he... means to you, and then try and talk with him about it. I don't think he _wants_ to see me, anymore. Not until some of this is all cleared up in his mind." Josh spoke, quietly, shifting his weight and looking down. "Is that how you feel, Josh?" she asked, almost as quietly as he had. "I think it'd be better. ...Don't you?" he paused cautiously and looked up at her face for approval. "Of course." she spoke. "Good. And thanks again, Anita-- you don't mean anything to me as a romantic interest, but... I'd be happy to have you as a sister." as Josh spoke the last few words, he glanced toward his brother and let out a tiny, half saddened smile. With sweet tears welling in the young girl's eyes, she looked up at Josh: "You don't disapprove of me then?" Instead of saying anything, he took a slow step toward the bed and reached out, picking up her hand and with a heart melting smile of true caring, he placed it over the crown of Drake's soft, silky brunette hair, then letting go and stepping back as he murmured a soft: "How could I, sister?" before turning and walking through the door.

Anita looked after the brother, as he disappeared from the room, and then sighed, with a mixed shake of the head. She was staring in deep though for a moment after ward, but turned to tend to the boy beside her when she felt him move restlessly beneath her fingers entangling his hair, and heard him breath out a deep exhale.

Leaning over him, she saw his deep brown, caramel eyes blink once as he stared up at the ceiling with almost child like confusion. "Drake?" she asked, in a whisper, feeling her heart skip about as she reached for his hand and he gripped it tightly. "...Nita. What--what happened?" he said, collapsing back in to the security of her extended arm and closed his eyes for a brief moment, gasping in a breath. "You fainted. Do you remember? Are you feeling alright now?" "I... Josh was standing so close and yelli--" Drake murmured, stopping himself when with a sudden rush, all his knowledge and memory was restored to the fullest in his mind. At this, he sat up and cupped his forehead in the palms of his hands, managing a distress filled: "Oh, no..."

The girl who sat beside him could do nothing except stare on in worry as he sighed and stood, shakily taking a step away. Before he could begin to say anything, Anita stood and walked around in front of him, to look closely in to his face: "Drake, before you say or do anything-- I want to ask one, simple question." "...What is it?" he asked, feeling his heart beating almost erratically now. She stared in to his face for a long moment a with an earnest, melting look flashing through her wet eyes, she spoke: "_Do you love me?_"

Drake sucked in an almost painful breath and closed his eyes before gradually dropping his head down to stare at the floor. After a long quietness, he looked half way back up and shook his head in a deep twinge of heartache: "_Yes,_ but, I don't know what to do about it..." The girl that stood only inches away from him felt his words vibrate through her throbbing chest and her arms go almost numb with anguish as she found words to speak: "Drake, please don't hate me for something I never did... I couldn't take you feeling such pain over a thing that never had happened." she murmured, grabbing her forehead with a shaky hand and beginning to sob against it.

All of the sudden, Drake felt a pain flit away from his heart and in it's place came a numbness over his entire body, along with a shiver of tenderness. He gasped in a sigh and reached forward, throwing aside any reservations and taking her in to his arms: "...Anita-- my poor Anita..." his voice began to sound serious and highly affected by his freely flowing emotions: "You do love me, don't you?" Anita had managed to stop herself from crying and at this question, she stared in to those beloved, dark eyes after a minute, giving in to her desire and leaning in to him, in a gentle kiss.

Both of the teen agers pulled from one another after another ground shaking shudder passed through them, and stood with their mouths slightly open, shocked smiles forming at the corner of their lips. "What just happened?" he smiled, shaking his head and catching her hand in his. "Something... something wonderful." she muttered, blinking hers soft green blue eyes shut for a minute, to take everything in.

But suddenly, amid the heavenly happiness, she gasped and snapped her eyes open, looking up at him: "Drake... your brother is so upset with himself! You have to go explain to him that you don't believe that rumor anymore." Instead of the surprised look she had imagined she'd see, she saw a look of hurt, making her back a step away: "...What--what's the matter?" "Josh." the boy answered, staring past her in to the blank space. "Drake, he didn't do anything. You have to go apologize for taking out such a silly rumor on him, so judgmentally." she replied, in confusion. "No! I mean-- I can't! He _didn't _do anything to you, as I had thought, but he _did _do something." the slim boy whispered, in a weary, detesting voice. "What?" Nita managed to whisper, he heart beating once more in pain, as she wondered if this stupid mess would ever be over. "He... he came at me!" "What?" "Not... to hurt me psychically, I guess, but the look on his face-- the tone in his voice-- Anita, I can't look at him! I'll start crying and breakdown, maybe even faint again if things get out of hand!" his stunned voice replied, looking down at the floor with a concerned frown.

"Drake... I know you have had bad things--very, very bad things-- happen to you in the past. But please, for one moment, _use your head._ This is Josh-- your brother, we're speaking of. He loves you more than he would love a blood brother, if he had one. I can't describe to you everything he said or did to show that to me today, but let me tell you with the deepest of honesty in my soul-- Josh didn't mean to hurt you so badly. If I hadn't have been here, earlier, when you passed out, he would have bawled his eyes out over you. So, please... _please_ just give him one chance, again." "Okay, Anita. For you, I'll go talk to him. But... oh, thank God you're here for me." he exclaimed, biting his lip and looking at her through the edges of his amber bangs. "I will be here for you, sweetheart... forever." she murmured, shyly lifting a hand and brushing back the golden brown strands from his eyes, with a timid smile. He took in a recovering breath and then stepped toward the door.

The trip to the living room was maybe the most gut wrenching of anything that had happened yet. If nothing else, just the flashbacks that Josh had stirred up where driving the disturbed teenage boy out of his skull. As he ad and Anita slowly made their way down the stairs and went on in through the hall, stalling in a pause near the entry to the living room, Drake's stomach decided to leap in to his throat and bounce around, eventually conjuring itself in to knots, making him feel nauseous. But suddenly everything halted-- his stomach, his eyes, his breath and for a moment as his brother heard the and turned to stand up, even his _heart._

Anita looked on at Josh with a hopeful facial expression and taking Drake by the hand, began to lead him across the expanse that fell between the two step brothers. But then, with out so much as a second of warning, Drake's worn mind flashed with a bolt of memories, suddenly pulling reality away and replacing it with a re-accurance of his past.

_**The sweet brunette boy ran quickly in to an upper room, swinging a door closed and locking it as best as he could. He refused to let go of the doorknob, out of his own fears, and finally realizing he had narrowly escaped, he melted toward the door which he had shut so tightly, in exhaustion. He stood there a moment-- just like this-- and then finally slid down the tall oak door, in a tired heap on the floor. He panted a breath and tried to calm himself, but he knew there was no way he could calm his soul. He sat back up after a long while, beginning to ache from laying on the cold floor, and leaned back, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "Some great birthday this is." **_

_**Across the small room, he saw the silver of a cell phone laying on the cluttered bed flash in the light, and he gazed at it for a long time before decided that he couldn't call anyone about this. He heaved a sigh and finally stood up from the blocked doorway, assuring himself that he was safe inside this latched room. **_

_**He lingered a moment, beside the door as he heard a muffled yell downstairs and felt his heart murmur. Shaking it off after a second, he knew that the best thing he could do was to stay in here, alone and away from trouble. He fell toward his soft bed and laid amongst the small piles of shirts that he owned, which were few and worn, but with which had somehow always managed to make people think he had much and all brand new. He blew a stray strand of auburn hair from his mysterious eyes and looked up at the wall behind him, as he folded his hands over his chest. It was covered in pinups and album covers of assorted people, but mostly the Beatles. Drake had a lot of stuff on his wall, it's true, and he had a whole collection of albums, but how he gotten them was a wonder to even him, himself. **_

_**His mother always had found a way to give him some things that he wanted, but they never had any money. A few times they hardly had enough for the sandwich dinners and the electric bill, but some how, they always got by with out living in the street, starving in a cardboard box. He went to public school down the street and had only a few friends, but he seemed pretty contented. Some of his friends that had it almost as bad as he did, would get upset because he could get an album or two from the Antique's store or a special cd or book from the mall from time to time, but the ones that did, didn't really realize how deeply the young boy was injured inside. The only things he had to light himself back up with were his albums and his guitar, and so he cherished them very much-- only maybe sometimes too much, making others jealous of him, for a while. But he would merely shake it off and stuff it in some recessed corner of himself until it eventually burst out, usually ending in a crying, hysterical, depressed mess. **_

_**Drake Parker had a tough side-- the cool, "whatever" side-- that he gave to people outside himself. He felt as if maybe if he played like life didn't bother him, it wouldn't really bother him after a while. He also knew that this plan had a long list of faults and usually ended up making him miserable-- but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out how to escape from this endless cycle of torment.**_

_**Today had been bad. It was his thirteenth birthday. He had been very excited the night before, about turning thirteen and finally being able to be label a "teenager", but suddenly this morning everything had faded in to the bleak dismalness again. He hated to live like this, but who could help being so down trodden when someone was making everything so black, so hopeless for you. He didn't mind the screaming so much any more-- he more wanted to roll his eyes to that and retort with a snide comment, but when it came to mind games and other things of that nature, he began to slip from the false "tough kid" image. **_

_**Suddenly something awoke him from his daze as he'd been staring up at his beloved posters.   
"HEY!"**_

**_The loud shout was accompanied with a growl and a rattled of the door knob. "Open this door, you trash!" he began to pound his fist on the door, making it shudder inwardly. Drake's eyes snapped open as wide and dilated as they would go and he flew from the bed, toward the throbbing door._**

**_"OPEN IT NOW!" the voice on the other side shouted, so loud that the boy thought his ear drums might shatter. The fists continued to lay in to the wooden door, and cussing, in an earth shaking volume could be heard easily, coming from the opposite doorway. The harsh screams continued again and again with the same threats that he'd heard over and over before-- the same threats that secretly frightened him so much that he could hardly sleep at all. And finally, with almost a whole dictionary of bad language and one last, window shuddering pound, the man behind the door stomped down the stairs._**

_**Drake felt himself breath in for almost the first time since the psycho rant had began and he sank again to the floor beside the worn doorway. He didn't feel like crying like he usually did, but he only let out a deeply darkened sigh and leaned his head against the solid surface beside him, wondering how long he'd have to do this.**_

With a snap, all of the sudden he was returning to the real world, almost as fast as his mind had transported him from it. With a shudder, his fudge colored eyes came back in to focus and he saw Josh standing in front of him with noticeable tears welling in his own, usually laughing eyes. And with a flash, Drake's heart sighed as he knew that Josh could never hurt him as bad as any of those things in the past had hurt him.

There was a rather long pause as Drake had mulled these things over and then for the first time in hours, he let out a tearfully happy smile: "...Josh!" Before hardly either of the two boys knew what had occurred, they were in each other's arms and both fighting back overwhelming tears. "Drake--do you really forgive me? I'm so, _so_ _sorry."_ Josh murmured, feeling his throat beginning to tighten in a choked up pain. "Forgive you for what? My being a looser?-!" his step brother exclaimed, leaning back to look in to the other teen's face. "No!" Josh exclaimed, and the shook his head, after gazing at his brother for a long time: "Aw, get over here!" He grabbed the thinner boy around the shoulders and hugged him until he had to let go, for fear he might suffocate.

"Aww!" Anita squeaked from the edge of the room, waving a hand in front of her teary eyes. "You get over here too!" Drake exclaimed, motioning to her as he watched her over his brother's shoulder. She let out a deeply affected chuckled and sniffled, running across the room and flinging herself in to a joyful group - hug with her two friends. Soon they all stepped back and sat down on the couch to rest and talk out their feelings, but most of all, to apologize.

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Drake sighed as he settled down on top of his bed's comforter, and laid his head back in to the cottony pillow. He was happy in a way, but in another way he had a mounting feeling of dread inside. Thinking about it to himself, he really couldn't understand it. "_What's the matter with me? Everything is worked out—Josh wasn't lying, he didn't cheat with my girlfriend, Anita apparently likes me a whole lot… and Meghan isn't even here to torture us. So why am I so depressed?" _ He shook his head and scooted under the sheets, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep, but thinking that he might as well try.

Josh was downstairs somewhere, doing _something,_ but Drake wasn't going to wait for him to come up to get in bed, he was too upset. He just felt like a big darkness had come to hang over him and he knew that the only way to get rid of it was to try and sleep.

--

Drake woke in the very middle of the night in a extreme panic. He jerked in to a sitting position and glanced around the dark room, feeling his heart beat almost out of his chest. He had a horrible feeling and he didn't know exactly why he had woken up, but something was terribly, terribly wrong. He only sat in the dark, listening to the dead silence for a few minutes and blew his brunette hair from his eyes as the bluish grey moonlight streamed across his bed from the cold window beside him.

He looked over, across the room and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, then seeing that Josh was still deeply asleep in his bed. With a thankful sigh, he waited for another long, silent period and then let out a tiny chuckle at himself. "_How silly you are to get so freaked out over nothing! Sure, you and Josh are alone in the house, but so what? You're **sixteen**, Drake Parker! Good grief, what will you be thinking next—the Boogeyman?_" Shaking his head, he let out another giggle and sat back in to the mound of pillows behind him. He was still quite curious as to what had woken him, but was sure that there was nothing really the matter.

After a minute more of just listening, he was beginning to think he was going crazy and perhaps needed just to chill out, but then, as clear as anything, he heard it—a slow, muffled scratching noise coming from some place near the hall, outside their room. It made Drake's ears perk up and sent a heavy shudder down his spine. Though their closed door partially muffled the noise, he was _sure_ he had heard it, and almost found himself wanting not to believe his own ears—after all, the noise that had been something no one teen ager would have wanted to hear, while his brother slept unshakably in the corner and there was no other family member in the house.

Then suddenly, with out any warning, the sound came again—closer and louder. It was such an indescribable noise—almost as if someone was dragging heavy sandpaper slowly across the wall of the next room, for a length of about eight to ten seconds. Drake was sure this would wake his brother, but to his alarm, it didn't. It was once of the most bone chilling moments Drake had felt for a long, long time.

He was completely puzzled, terrified, curious and anxious all at the same time. What could this thing possibly be? He knew he had to do _something_, and not just sit there, waiting for some terrible thing to happen, and he decided upon trying to wake his brother. He was almost too freaked out to get up from the temporary safety of his bed, and _certainly _wasn't going to wake him by yelling. Finally he gathered enough strength and courage and jumped up, quickly sliding the ladder, as the frighteningly mysterious sound repeat.

When he reached the side of his step brother's bed, he quickly reached over and grabbed his arm, beginning to roughly shake it. "Josh! Wake up!" he hissed, in a whispering voice, afraid that if he spoke any louder, whatever was making that terrible noise might hear him. But even despite Drake's incessant shaking and whispers, Josh was too sound asleep. He half aroused for a moment once, but within maybe ten seconds, was once again unconscious. Drake groaned under his breath and tried feverishly to wake Josh, but to no avail.

Finally, he gave up the task and stepped back, glancing up toward the door, maybe ten feet away. The sound had momentarily ceased, but he knew it would come again. And he also knew that he would never be able to wake Josh up—and he _had _to find out what the noise was.

Inside his head he was battling with himself. The sounds that had been coming from the hall had stopped, it seemed, so maybe—he thought—that he'd be alright going to have a look by himself. After all, logically, it was probably only something brushing up against the heating vent, or maybe a squirrel in the attic, scratching around at the loose boards in the ceiling. The boy managed to smirk a smile at himself and roll his eyes at his still slightly lingering feelings of fear, then looking once more about the room and picking up his golf club from beside the wall. He convinced himself that wouldn't need it, but it was just for fun. Taking a deep breath, and wearing an alert look on his face, he strode across the floor and then carefully began to open the door that led in to the hall.

Everything before Drake was mostly dark, all except an eerie shaft of cool moonlight that fell from a nearby window across the floor. He gripped his golf club and stiffly lifted it to his eye level, glancing carefully around the room, from the doorway. He stepped in to the middle of the room and stood a few steps toward the stairs, simply waiting in silence, and after a moment of noticing nothing strange, he relaxed his grip on his weapon and sighed… but all too soon.

Suddenly, from behind him, he heard a giant thump and a cold hand clapped over his mouth, making him cry out in a muffled yell, against it. He kicked and battled his was in to being able to turn around, to see his assailant, but when he did, his eyes grew as big as saucers and he froze in fright. Something struck his shoulder hard, and he doubled over in pain for a moment, grabbing it, but quickly raised back up when he felt repeated blows against the back of his head. It hurt badly, but he knew he had to try and fight off his enemy.

He raised his arm, and was about to strike, but a deep, malevolent cackle carried back childhood fears and brought him to a screeching halt. With the tactical advantage, his opponent's hand snaked out, darting forward and knocking his golf club from his hand, behind him, down the stairs. Drake watched in horror, the club thud down every step, and suddenly, with a deep, involuntary gasp, he knew what awaited him.

As his attack neared him and his heart began to race, he backed toward the staircase and then, only a second before the expected blow, he managed to let out a weak and helpless yell: "Josh!..."


	20. In the Dark

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_Don't owwwwwwwn it, don't looooooan it, don't… what else rhymes with "own"? …Hum. Anyway, the point is, I'm fourteen and I don't own crap. –big grin-- Drake and Josh the show belongs to Nick, and Drake and Josh as people belong to themselves… but boy, would I give anything to own Mister Bell over there… heh._

**Note to Readers: **

_This chapter is really short, but I still think it's crucial to the plot. LOL, it's kind of dorky, but like I said—crucial. The next chapter will be the big revealing "finale" kind of, but don't worry, we still have a half dozen chapters or so left before the end of the story! I hope you like this chapter, and everything! Read and review, my little mice! LOL. GOOOOO LUCKY CHAPTER TWENTY! YAYYYY!_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "In the Dark"; Twenty_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flashbacks.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** refer to the mysterious man.

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Josh's eyes flickered open and he awoke to a sound he presumed at first to be thunder, but after a few seconds, his head cleared and he realized that it must be something else. "Hey, Drake—" he began, in a cracking, tired voice, sitting up in his bed and suddenly stopping when he glanced over toward the other side of the room. Instead of seeing his brother lying asleep in his high bed, he only saw an empty bundle of blankets though a beam of icy moonlight.

The thunder had died away, but when he recognized the sound of something thump roughly on to the cold wooden floor at the foot of the stairs, he was up from his bed within an instant and rushing in to the hall, loosing any sign of clumsiness.

He glanced around himself, and seeing no one in the hall, he instinctively raced down the dark stairs.

Suddenly he stopped on the second to last step, staring with a frightened and awe-struck face down below him. The dim, dully colored moonlight in the hall grazed over the limp body of Drake Parker, who lay bleeding on the cold floor, very obviously having been beaten senseless by the hard steps of the staircase. Josh widened his eyes in bewilderment, when he bent to help his step brother, and for a moment he grew conscious again. "Josh…" his shivering, weak words were: "He's… quick, get him before he has time to get away—he ran outside."

Josh hardly knew what his injured brother was talking about and for a moment, wondered if the fall Drake had taken hadn't knock a few wires loose. Then suddenly, he knew what he had meant. "Josh, please—I'll be okay." The wounded teenager pleaded: "Go and—" "Hush, Drake. I'm taking care of you first—that's my job." Josh answered, in a gentle, brotherly tone. This seemed to lift a weighty burden from Drake's shoulders and with a sigh of relief, he layed his head back to the hard floor, closing his eyes in a very worn out way.

Josh stood for only a second to flip on a light switch, and then he bent, carefully grabbing his step brother's arm, making him open his eyes. "I'm going to help you up and get you over on to the couch, okay?" he said, looking down at Drake and wondering if he was going to even understand anything he was saying. Surprisingly, though, he got an understanding and clear reply, and Drake slowly managed to sit himself up and wrap a weak arm around Josh's neck. Josh reached to the side and held on his unstable teen brother's waist, and finally the two were able to struggle in to standing up, aside each other.

Josh helped Drake walk over to the couch, and was genuinely stunned when the boy pulled his arm away from around his neck and took a few steps by himself, reaching the couch and laying down with a muffled moan. Though of course, Josh knew Drake was hurt pretty bad, he also knew that it wasn't as bad as he had assumed. "Were are you bleeding?" he asked, walking up to the edge of the couch as the boy sat up and leaned over, putting his head in his hands for a minute.

"I don't really know, but—" Drake's sentence trailed off quietly and his eyes broadened in astonishment when he pulled back from his hand and realized that it was almost covered with blood. "Oh my gosh!" Josh muttered, from a few feet away, as his puzzled brother frowned and pulled his bangs back from his forehead and felt it. Sure enough, when he looked again at his hand, it was bloody too, and he murmured: "I must have busted my forehead on one of the rails!" "Does it hurt?" Josh asked, still shocked, as he raced in to the kitchen to grab some bandages and something to put on it. "…No! I don't feel anything, weirdly enough. Maybe I hit it so hard, it's just _numb._" he exclaimed, in a louder voice, so his brother in the next room could hear him.

A few moments later, Josh hurried back in to the room and put the items he had in his arms down on the coffee table, turning and stepping up to where Drake sat: "Let me see it." "Okay…" the teen ager muttered, wincing and pushing his hair back so his step brother could examine the bleeding injury. "Sheesh! That's really bad!" he gasped, cringing a little and turning around to pick up the peroxide off of the table. "'Kay, this is pro'lly gonn'a hurt…" he said, causing the other boy to sigh and close his eyes with a frown. Josh soaked a cotton ball in the stinging liquid and then quickly pressed it to his brother's forehead. Drake gasped and jerked back, opening his eyes wide and grabbing the hurt spot: "OW!" "Just stay still! It's gonn'a hurt worse if I don't put this on it!" Josh exclaimed. "It didn't hurt at ALL _before _you put it on!" the other boy complained, motioning toward his brother and scooting out of reach of the terrible stinging liquid.

"_Drake!"_ Josh reprimanded, raising an eyebrow: "I'm going to either do this now, or do this later, and if you choose later, it's going to hurt worse." "How about never? Never is good!" Drake exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and hurrying around to the back of the couch. "Come on—if Mom and Dad come back tonight and find out that I didn't fix this, their going to kill me!" "No way!" he shook his head, backing away. "Give'ya ten bucks?" Josh sighed. "…Make it fifteen and you gott'a deal." came the reply, making Josh roll his eyes and fish the required bribe from his pocket and put it in to Drake's open hand.

The now wealthy teenager returned to the couch and sighed, drawing his hair from his cut forehead. In a few minutes, it was cleaned up and bandaged. "Aww, man, now I have a gigantic bandage on my forehead." Drake muttered, standing in the dining room and looking in to the mirror on the wall. "Drake! You hair covers it up, anyway! You can hardly see it!" Josh said, as his brother walked back over to the couch and lay down tiredly on it. He didn't reply in an argument like the other boy had expected, but instead just lay there in silence. After a long time, Josh became slightly alarmed and asked quickly: "Are you okay?"

"I think… I don't know. I'm just exhausted—and beat up. I think those stairs left a bruise on every part of my body." He answered, sighing. Josh thought for a moment and then slowly posed the question: "…That reminds me. What happened? And why did you end up falling down the stairs?" Drake's eyes snapped open and he wore a slightly frightened face, slowly sitting up: "…Why?" "What do ya' mean 'why?'?-! Of course I'm going to ask you what happened when I wake up to the sound of you tumbling down the stairs, and then when I come to see where you are, you're lying on the floor, with your forehead cut open!" Josh chuckled, frowning in a little bit of confusion, as he sat beside his brother.

"I just…" Drake faltered for a minute and tried to contemplate what he should say. He knew if he told Josh about what had _really_ happened, he might have to reveal things that he didn't want to, but he also knew deep inside that if he _didn't_ tell what happened, he might have another encounter of this kind, and that next time, it might not end up as pleasantly. Next time, his nightmare that he had dreamt only a few nights before may come true, if actions weren't taken.

"I just…" the words automatically flowed from his lips: "I only tripped." He sucked in a deep breath and frowned at himself, surprised at himself for spitting that story out, at all, he had _intended _upon speaking the truth. "You just _fell?"_ Josh asked, frowning and looking intently in to Drake's face. "Yes! I mean, I just--" Drake began to stutter in confusion and indecision upon either backing up his story or telling the truth. "Drake—" his brother finally stopped him, by resting at hand on the boy's shoulder: "This is no game. Just… just _tell me the truth._ I won't listen to anything else."

Drake halted his sentence and then looked down, as Josh's hand fell away from his shoulder. Hearing such earnestness in the other boy's voice made him realize the urgency of the matter and caused him to shake his head for a minute. Slowly looking back up, he sighed: "Fine. I… didn't only trip. I was," he paused with a wave of long hesitancy and then spoke surely, with a firm tone: "_Pushed._"

In the back of his head, Josh had known that this was indeed the answer he would get from the boy sitting opposite him, but at the same time was shocked at the reality of it all. With the deepest of disturbance at these words, Josh leaned forward and drew his worried brows together: "Drake…"

With out another word for a long time, both of the teen age brothers only thought to themselves, occasionally glancing up fleetingly at each other. Silence reigned for moment after moment and with every second, the truth became more and more evident. Drake felt something crazy happening to him on the inside, his head was throbbing, his heart was racing and he knew that there was no more stalling to be done—that he had finally come to the point where it was _crucial _to tell Josh about it all. About _everything._


	21. Secrets No More

**Summary: **

_Typical Drake & Josh storyline. Drake and Josh plan to go to a concert where a famous singer will be, but get sidetracked when a mysterious box addressed to Walter shows up and Meghan's pranks take over. Drake also must deal with an annoying girl (who says everything with a "w") from his class, that also shows signs she has a crush on him. When he & Josh go to the concert, something terrible happens. _

**Disclaimer: **

_I don't own you, Nickelodeon, the Drake and Josh show, Drake, Josh, Meghan, Walter, Audrey, Trevor, Scottie, creepy dude, Brittney, my commenters, Drake's guitar, Drake's voice, Drake's pillow, Drake's cat, Drake's shoes, Drake's soap, Drake's hair… though I did joke about cutting some off and keeping it in a bag when I meet him again… oh wait! I'm keeper of his keys in the Drake keepership club! But I don't actually own his keys, which would be completely, totally, really, amazingly freaking awesomely cool. Umm… am I getting a bit off track?_

**Note to Readers: **

_This chapter, too is slightly short, but hey, I tried and tried to add on to make it longer. …Hopefully not so much so that the story sounds overly stupid, but this chapter should be slightly okay even if it is stupid—because it's the big reveal chapter, where EVERYTHING get revealed. I don't want to scare ya'll too much, because the chapter's already suspenseful enough. –snort— The "Drake and Josh Go Hollywood" movie premieres on Nick in like 20 hours, and since Drake posted on his official forum that he was doing okay after his accident, today, I'm really hyped up about this chapter and (of course) the next chapter! I've actually got an idea for a new Drake and Josh fan fic, and though it's waaaaay more comedic and shorter than this baby, I can hardly wait to finish this one and start that one! So, anyway, this chapter is very revealing, as I already kind of said. Enjoy it (I hope), and PLEASE read it and review it, people! Thank you so much my little chickens!_

**Chapter Dedication:**

_This chapter is dedicated to Mr. Bell himself! Even though there is no possible way of him ever, EVER reading this… Drake—Thank you sooooo much for inspiring me and all your fans by being in Drake and Josh and putting out your BEYOND awesome cd "Telegraph". It is my definitely FAVORITE cd and every song means something really special to my life. I met you in October, 2005 and just to let you know, your concert was totally rockin'! I was so spazzed out when I met you, and I was very jittery, but you were so smooth and awesome! You are the best! --Hugs and kisses from your wannabe biggest fan—Morgan… aka Ginger! _

…_aka one of the "Two Girls who confused Drake"._

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Secrets No More"; Twenty - One_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flash backs.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** refer to the mysterious man during flash backs.

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"Josh," he finally spoke, almost afraid to even speak at all: "Okay, look… I had things happen in the past, I even… I even did things in the past that you don't know anything even remotely about. I don't know that I can tell you everything—some things I don't even remember. Mom… my mom doesn't know about half of it, herself, because she never saw anything much and I never told her because I was afraid it would all come back… but now it has."

The boy seemed quiet and tightly wound, nearly unable to take any harsh criticism from the other teenager, which he was almost wincing in expectancy of.

And unexpectedly kind reply from the other boy made him look up in slight confusion: "You don't have to be afraid anymore, Drake. I may seem goofy and all sometimes, but right now, I'm ready to listen to whatever you say and take it seriously. It's just time." The last three words almost seared in to Drake's mind and they reverberated over and over in his echoing thoughts. It _was_ time. He could hardly believe that he was about to let go of the secrets that had been destroying him inside for almost as long as he had been able to speak, literally tearing him apart. But he knew he had to. He could only have stored it all up for so long, inside, and now it had reached the point were there was no way to contain it.

He felt as if all of these emotions that he was feeling were actually draining the little energy that he had left from his body, and he let out a very suddenly weary breath, leaning in to the cushions on the back of the couch, in to a tired heap. "Are you going to be alright, bro?" Josh asked, becoming a bit worried and leaning over a few inches to see Drake's facial expression, which was worn out, but still concerned.

"I'll be fine… I'm just tired, that's all." he explained, with a weak and shuddering sigh. "I don't know, man—you really gashed your forehead pretty bad and all… maybe I should just go call the doctor across the street to come over here for a minute." Josh replied, standing up and picking up the cordless phone on the side – table. "No, no! You _can't!" _Drake murmured, frantically scooting over the seat of the sofa and setting the phone back on its cradle: "Mom and Dad would freak if they knew about this! They'd never trust me or you home by ourselves when their gone, again! Anyway, I'll be just great in a few minutes. Seriously. And besides that—we've only got a few hours until it's around breakfast time. Meghan will probably want to come home then, and if we want to talk about this, we have to talk now, before the time is up." What he had said seemed to make sense, but that didn't make Josh's worried thoughts stop forming in his head as they both sat down and he sat across from the other boy in a soft chair.

An indescribably quiet length of time passed before Drake finally spoke up in a gaunt voice: "…I just don't have any slightest idea where to exactly start telling you. It's all so hard to describe and so much went on that well, I just can't sort it out, almost." Josh thought a moment and then looked up to propose his idea: "Well, I know it all confuses me a lot. All of the mystery, anyway. So maybe it would be easier if I would ask you some questions about things that aren't clear to me. How would you feel about that?" Drake nodded after a minute, finding that this way would probably be the best approach and the easiest way, and tried to shake off the nervous feeling: "Yeah. Okay. …I'm ready."

It took Josh a long time to come up with any questions, because there were so many things entangled in the sticky situation, and he wanted to ask his queries carefully, but most of all he wanted to start off easy and get harder as he went on, so Drake wouldn't become so suddenly over whelmed and decide to close back up toward his brother.

Finally after a minute, he sighed and nodded to himself, beginning to speak to the teenager across from him in an extremely careful voice: "…Okay. Well, I've been wondering this a long time. Why… why is this guy so deathly bent on hurting you? Did you do something to him or what?" Drake winced at the last sentence and shook his head slowly: "No, I never did anything to him. …Wait, yes I did. I _did_ do something—I escaped him. But believe me when I say, with conviction, that that's all I ever did." Josh felt the severe tension in his brother's demeanor and he sat there for a minute, contemplating deeply whether or not to continue with the questions, but then he heard Drake speak up with a truthful tone: "I'm sorry, man—I need to hold back my defenses for a little while. Go ahead; we really have to do this now."

This washed away any pressure that Josh was feeling, and he sighed in a relieved breath. "Okay, bro. Another question I've been puzzled over for a really long time is this… how_ long_ has he been exactly stalking you? Because I know he is stalking you now, and from the way you talk, he's been doing it for a while." Drake gazed up with a far-away look in his empty brown eyes and was silent for such a long time that it almost made Josh jerk in surprise when he spoke up in a loud and deep tone: "For sixteen years."

Suddenly things started coming together and yet got more confusing at the same time for the hazel eyed teenager that had been so worried about his sweet, handsome brother. "But—" almost morbid excitement was laced through his confused voice as he tried to piece together this amazing puzzle: "Sixteen years… that's your whole life! What do you mean? How did he—" "Look, Josh, I know what I have to tell you now—I have to tell you about everything. All of the secrets I held back for so long. And… and I'm ready. I've waited the entirety of my life to tell somebody. But not just _anybody—_somebody who would listen with out jumping to conclusions, and _really_ listen on the _inside, _not just with their ears." the teenager paused and frowned down at the floor with a bit of a disturbed look, but wiped it from his face before looking back up at his brother, leaning across the expanse of floor between the two seats and laying a gentle hand on his shoulder: "Well… I think I've found that somebody, Josh—and it's _you_."

A slow, amiable smile passed the opposite teen's face and he almost had to restrain the tears begging to be released: "Thank you, Drake. _So much._" "Don't, man… _just don't. _I understand." Drake said, actually smiling for what seemed had been an eternity.

The two brothers looked at each other for a minute, and then Drake's hand finally let go of Josh's shoulder, as he sat back in to his own seat. "…Um, but—" he choked back the remaining feeling in his throat and eyes and continued gradually, in a soft, cautious way of speaking: "But seriously, how _was_ he able stalk you so long, like that? I don't really understand it. I mean, I would have thought that atleast maybe… maybe your Mom would have known about him in some way! But apparently _no one_ did. He had to be completely and entirely sick to stalk a helpless child!" "He was sick… and beyond that. But he didn't care about whether I was a child or not—he just cared that he had thought I could give him something… and when I didn't, he had to get back at me and more, no matter what it took, or what kind of cruel, abusive pain he caused me." "But how was he—"

The boy's emotionally grey words almost echoed in the cold, dimly lit room and interrupted his brother, as if he knew already what he was going to say: "…He was able because I couldn't run away him, as much I wanted to. He didn't have to struggle very hard to stalk me, until three and a half years ago, because, really… he was…" Drake paused and continued in a deliberate, almost darkly loathsome voice and glared blankly past Josh in to the blackness of the next room, making the other boy's heart almost stop at his unbelievable words:

"…_My father._"


	22. A Fight For The Soul

**Summary: **

_Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital b/c of Josh, a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revenge, even murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart b/c of old heartbreaks. R&R!_

**Disclaimer: **

_Don't own it. Don't own it.Don't own it.Don't own it.Don't own it._

_Don't own it.Don't own it.Don't own it.Don't own it.Don't own it._

_Don't own it.Don't own it.Don't own it.Don't own it. Don't own it._

**Note to Readers: **

_Another short chapter. I'm sorry you guys! I changed the summary on the index of the fanfic because it used to be incredibly dorky, and I personally think it was driving away readers. Anyway, my brain isn't working well now LOL and I tried my best to make this –short—chapter sound… coherent. It's a very emotional chapter. It's not much, but it's just really about you guys understanding Drake's past situation with his Dad and how terrible it was. This really isn't that hard to write because I've gone through an abusive father situation (and still am), but I have grown to love my own story because it actually give me, myself hope! Only a few more chapters left before the end of the fic! Maybe three or four, five at most. Don't cry! FOFL. Well, thanks for the nice, nice comments and thanks of course for you drifters who just read and don't comment—though I love getting reviews, I really don't care as long as you read and truthfully enjoy my story! Thanks guys! Chapter Twenty Two coming your way: 'A Fight For The Soul'!_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "A Fight For The Soul"; Twenty - Two_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flash backs.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** refer to the mysterious man during flash backs.

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Josh sat in a complete state of un-relenting shock, staring at his brother. Anyone would have expected atleast a "What?" or an "I can't believe this!" from him, but he was, for a long time, too stunned to murmur anything aside from an "Oh my God…" in a tiny, upset voice. He looked down at the shadowy floor and gazed back up, eventually, at Drake—to view his reaction.

He was looking not at the dumb struck teenager, but more over to the side of the couch, past the darkness of the kitchen window, with an almost heartbroken expression on his face. Finally, Josh found the strength to speak in a hoarse tone: "Drake—" "I know, Josh. I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have even told you anything." the boy who had cut his brother's sentence short, rose from his seat and said nothing more as he walked across the open expanse of the murky living room. Josh bit his lip and stood also, following along as Drake stepped toward the moonlit window seat.

He didn't say anything at first, but instead reached out and put a warm hand atop the shivering shoulder of his brother, as the other boy had done for _him_, earlier. He was surprised at the shudder that passed though Drake's slumping shoulder, under his hand, and feeling this made his speak up, in a very vigilant and gentle tone of voice. "Drake—man, don't be upset. I…I'm not angry with you! Just… so afraid for you. I never knew anything about your real dad. But finding this out about him is just—so scary." "I'm not upset. I'm only sorry. And… I just want to be alone." Drake spoke, slowly bending his head downward and eventually pulling away from Josh's hand to walk back a few steps and stride slowly toward the hall way.

Josh frowned and stood still for a while, in inability to quite grasp understanding of how his brother felt at this moment. "Drake?" he called, hurrying through the doorway to the stairs but stopping short out of surprise when he rounded the corner and spotted his step brother sitting tiredly on the fourth or fifth step, leaning against the rail.

"…Hey, brother—can I just talk to you for like one moment?" Josh asked, in a gentle voice.

Drake looked up and stared at him for a minute, but didn't reply with any words. The other boy's heart sank and any slight hope of discovering everything and helping Drake, once and for all disappeared. Another uncomfortable and awquard silence passed and finally Josh murmured a quiet: "Okay." as he began to turn and step from the tiny room.

"Wait!" a soft voice yelped, and Josh heard the muted pad of quick steps down the stairs behind him. He swerved to meet the other teenager face to face as he spoke: "I apologize, man. I do want to talk. Please, just please don't be mad at me. I get so emotional, but I don't mean to." The tone of his voice was full of remission and impairment. Josh looked down for a minute and then smiled a sweet smile, reaching out and grabbing his brother's curled, cold fingers: "It's okay, bro. …Come on and let's go back in to the living room. As you said earlier—time is really of the essence." Drake mirrored back the same smile and for a second, drew his hand tighter around his brother's clasping it warmly, before pausing and then letting it go.

"Drake?" Josh asked, as the two settled back down in to seats in the adjoining room: "What kind of things did he exactly do to you? Was he a psychical abuser?" "In a way, he was. In another way, he wasn't. He hit me only once—the last day that Mom saw him. But other than that, he really never hit anybody. It was mental torture. I was his main target in our family and for the longest time I was deathly afraid of him—to the point of loosing my health a bit. It got to where my time was just so consumed with trying to avoid him, I had begun to forget to eat and then couldn't fall asleep until five or six in the morning… sometimes even after daylight. On the weekdays, I'd usually only get three or so hours of rest before I had to wake up and head to school, some days less." Josh's eyes were filled with almost amazed horror: "How did you… stay alive?" "Naps, I guess. I mean, I took them, but he would always wake me up by screaming my name through my door or from the bottom of the stairs, so sometimes I'd just have to be exhausted." "Man, you must have been really depressed." The other boy commented, shaking his head and looking on at Drake with quiet sympathy. "I was." he spoke, in an almost whispering voice.

"Did you ever… cut?" Josh said finally, after trying to figure out a way to ask this without being so blunt, and failing to do so, instead letting out the bold question in a hushed voice. Drake's eyes lifted to glance across at the boy who had posed such a truthful and to - the - point question, and he bit his lip, in total silence. "Drake… you really cut yourself, didn't you?" the slow, worried sentence left the lips of the teenager's kind brother. "…Yes. I did. But only once!" Drake exclaimed, shaking his head and nervously turning his head from the view of Josh: "It was bad! I know that now! But… but I was so alone, and so terrified! I thought that if I couldn't kill myself and take the easy way out because of Mom and Meghan, then I'd come as close as I could with out really doing it. And when I did it… it made me feel so real—so alive—and such a human being."

Josh's eyes got larger with a little look of fear: "…Drake, you haven't been doing that latel—" "No, I haven't! That's just in the past." Drake said, in a frustrated tone, grabbing his forehead, beginning to massage the pain away and letting out a deep breath. "I'm sorry, man, you just scared me. I understand that you've already processed a lot of this… but if anything ever happened to you, I'd just loose my mind." Josh replied, with a soft smile: "I mean, you're my brother, Drake!"

"Don't worry about me, Josh. I gave up cutting a long, long time ago, and there's no way I'm ever gonn'a do it again. That would just give more power to him. …I remember once, I started to try and tell him that I had been doing that. But—but I shouldn't have even spoken to him at all." "What did he say? He must have been really upset." "He," Drake paused his sentence for a minute and then sighed, shaking his head and closing his eyes: "Laughed. And started giving everyone the impression I was a rebelling crazy kid. Even… even most of my friends believed him." "I hate him. And I won't stand one more second of watching you in torment, Drake Parker. He's going to know for real that he can't mess with you." Josh exclaimed, standing up in an angry rush and shaking his head in disgust. "No—Josh, listen you can't be like that—it only fuels him." "No, you listen to me, Drake! I can't just standby and watch you die slowly! You're my family—the only real family I ever had! You're a part of _me_, you're connected to my heart, and if I let him keep on, he's going to end up going too far and killing you! You have to admit even yourself that that's more than likely what he had come to do to you and by the simple grace of God you ended up okay! I won't just let half of my heart and life be ripped away from me when I've just started to learn to love it. I can't take that."

"Josh…" Drake managed, in a quiet murmur as he stood slowly and looked at him with a daze stare. He frowned a loving frown and restrained the slight strain of tears in his throat, suddenly reaching forward and grabbing his brother's heaving shoulders in a hug. This very unexpected action shocked Josh and he felt himself relax his muscles and draw his arms around his thin brother, and sigh, understanding his pain. "I never knew you thought like that." Drake said, shaking his head and causing his brown locks to brush against Josh's cheek. "Well, now you know I do."

The two brothers shared the kind hug for a long time, and finally they back up from each other and sighed. "What'll we do now? The sun's just now starting to rise and we only a have a few more hours until Meghan will probably call." Drake asked, crossing his goose bump covered arms and trying to warm him self. "You're cold. Come on upstairs and we can grab a few blankets. Mean while maybe you can tell me what really happened with the stairs—I still don't know yet!" Josh answered, grabbing the shivering boy's arm from across him, and heading toward the stairs, dragging him along with him.


	23. When No One Was Looking

**Is this a dream **

_If it is _

Please don't wake me from this high

I'd become comfortably numb

Until you opened up my eyes

To what it's like

When everything's right

I can't believe 

--

**You found me **

_When no one else was looking _

How did you know just where I would be

Yeah, you broke through all of my confusion

The ups and the downs

And you still didn't leave

I guess that you saw what nobody could see

You found me

You found me 

--

**So here we are **

_And that's pretty far _

When you think of where we've been

No going back, I'm fading out

All that has faded me within

You're by my side

Now everything's fine

I can't believe 

--

**You found me **

_When no one else was looking _

How did you know just where I would be?

Yeah, you broke through all of my confusion

The ups and the downs

And you still didn't leave

I guess that you saw what nobody could see

You found me

You found me 

--

**And I was hiding **

_Till you came along _

And showed me where I belong

You found me

When no one else was looking

How did you know, how did you know

--

**You found me **

_When no one else was looking_

How did you know just where I would be?

Yeah, you broke through all of my confusion

The ups and the downs

And you still didn't leave

I guess that you saw what nobody could see

You found me 

--

**You found me **

_(When no one else was looking) _

You found me

(How did you know just where I would be?)

You broke through

All of my confusion

The ups and the downs

And you still didn't leave

I guess that you saw what nobody could see

The good and the bad

And the things in between

You found me

You found me…

--

© Kelly Clarkson, "You Found Me" from "Breakaway", 2004.


	24. Screaming For You

**Summary: **

_Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital b/c of Josh, a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revenge, even murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart b/c of old heartbreaks. R&R!_

**Disclaimer: **

_Drake and Josh aren't mine and neither is any part of their amazingly hilarious show. So therefore, I wish no lawsuits, I'm only fourteen years old LOL. Um… cookie dough?_

**Note to Readers: **

_This chapter is sliiightly longer than the last few so yay! It's very emotional and the end gets kind of thriller-ish. The next chapter is going to be pretty scary. Bwhahahaaa… I can feel the story coming to a dramatic climax. On one hand I can't wait for it to be finished, so you all can know the WHOLE plot, but on the other hand, it's really sad to have to end a story. –sniffle-- Oh well, that's beside that point. Thanks **midnightriot **for posting! Your review mad me verrry happy! Anyway, here's the –creepy—chapter twenty four: "Screaming For You". If you've been thinking about cutting your fingernails, lately, no worries, after this chapter you won't need to. –snort--_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Screaming For You"; Twenty - Four_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flash backs.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** refer to the mysterious man during flash backs.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Drake had now gotten past the initial fear and tenseness of talking to his brother about it all, and the two sat on top of his high mattress, leaning in, in concentration and conversing, as they tried to cover as much ground as they could before they'd have to deal with Meghan. It had been so incredibly hard for Drake to get _anything_ out of his mouth about the situation, at first, but now it was almost as if the words could hardly stay in his throat long enough for him to even think about them, before they came tumbling from his lips.

Even he was amazed at all the memories that started flying back in to his head, which he had long forgotten. He told his brother everything that had happened from the beginning.

"Dad never loved any of us. Mom always used to try and make it seem better than it was, and most of the time, after he would yell or whatever, when I was little, she'd just sit there and hug me. I remember a lot of the time, when he'd leave the house and slam the door behind him after he had a rage, I'd start saying: 'Mom… he doesn't love me, does he?' She used to tell me that he did, and that he was just a little mean—but after I turned 11, I kind of started figuring out for myself that it was something more than that. He started to notice the distance I kept from him, and he it made him mad. So, really, for the longest time, he began to torture me when I was alone… where Mom didn't know, when no one was looking." "Like how?" Josh asked, quickly, with a deep expression of interest scrawled in to the features of his face. "Mind games, yelling, hovering over me, threatening and things of that sort." came the firm answer. "You said he slapped you once. What happened there?" the other brother quipped, in a quiet and serious voice. "Oh, that day was really when I started to hate him. I was eleven and a half. I had been avoiding him for the past few days, and he kind of noticed, like I said. He came up to my room, and jerked open the door. I was lying on my bed, trying to think, and he started talking. I couldn't bear to listen to anymore of it, so I stood up and started to walk off. He called me back to him with a loud shout that scared me, and then he began to bawl me out. I… I was literally on the edge of cussing, but I managed atleast to not do that. So instead, I yelled that I wasn't going to listen to his garbage anymore. Then he just… reared back and slapped me, knocking me to the ground, and he left the house, leaving me alone in it until Mom finally came home. That was really the day the war began. He used to spank me hard all the time when I was younger than that, and sometimes for no reason at all. But then, he realized I had finally grown out of taking the blame from him and it sent him scrambling."

"…Woah. Dude, I—I had no idea ever that your Dad was so brutal to you. I mean, I admit that I wondered what type he was, when nobody ever mentioned him. And I knew how nice Mom was… it always confused me, because I only got to assume. I _assumed _maybe your real Dad had had an affair and your Mom divorced him because she knew that she didn't want you to have to grow up in that environment. But, now that I _know…_ well, gosh, it just blows my mind that you actually went through all of this." Josh explained, shaking his head and halting for a breath every few words.

"Josh, I'm sorry for never telling you about anything. You're part of my family, now and I should have told you. I hope you're not angry with me." Drake replied, with a sound shake of the head. "Of course I'm not. _Upset _for you, maybe, but not in the least angry with you." the other teenager replied, with a reassuring smile.

Drake let a little smile slip himself, but still sighed, and tiredly layed back in to a weak heap on top of the thick pillows that were on his bed, behind him. "Are you okay?" Josh asked, after a while of quietness. "I guess. My head hurts though." he said simply, not bothering even to say the customary 'Oh, I'm okay'. "…Really?" the other brother replied, his eyes changing their expression and his eyebrows raising a hair in worry. "Yeah. …Oh! That reminds me! I almost forgot to tell you about what happened on the stairs—or, _above_ the stairs and _down_ the stairs."

"Yes! What _did happen?_" Josh nodded, trying to ward off his feelings of concern for his beat up brother. A considerable silent followed, but then the boy lost his reluctance and bit of fear in telling his brother what had happened.

"Well…" Drake began, in a weary voice: "I woke up to a really weird sound—a scratching noise. It went on and on and I finally got up to try and wake you. You, being the dork you are, wouldn't get up, though." "Heyy!" Josh growled, glaring and then dropping his expression: "Sorry… go on." "As I was _saying--_" Drake continued, emphasizing his words: "Well, I couldn't wake you up, so I grabbed my golf club out of the corner of the room and decided to take a quick peek by myself." "_Why _in the world did you do that?-!" the hazel – eyed boy, across from him exclaimed: "If I wouldn't wake up for _anything_, then you should have just stayed where you were! Then you wouldn't have had such a terrible fall." "Because it was such a frightening sound that I just _had_ to make it stop. It might have been crazy, but just think about it, Josh—if he had really come to kill me, he might have come in to our room and shot us _both. _That was really the only thing that made me go out there." Drake explained, bending his brow and blinking sluggishly. "You mean to tell me that on account of worrying over me; you risked your own neck out there, not even knowing what in the world you might happen to run in to in the dark?" Josh replied, in an almost laughing voice. "…Yeah." Drake nodded, shrugging and slowly gathering a depressed look. "Drake Parker, that has to be the stupidest thing you've ever done since I've known you!" Josh snickered, jumping down off of the bed and leaving Drake sitting alone on it, with a mounting feeling of tears. He knew that perhaps wanting his brother to thank him was selfish, but seeing him act so unthankful and arrogant over it made him hurt inside. Suddenly Josh turned and rested his arms on the ledge of the bed, looking up at Drake: "But it's also got to be the most selfless and awesome thing, too."

With a relieved gasp of air, the other boy cracked a thankful smile and choked back his previous tears. "…Anyway, when you got out there, what did you exactly find?" Josh asked, standing still on the floor, a minute later. "Well, at first, nothing. It was very dark, and I couldn't see much. Then, when I was about to go down stairs to check it out, too, I heard something behind me. And a chuckle too. It... it was a creepy, hollow, dead sort of laugh, and it was so deeply pitched and sudden that it almost had me jump out of my skin. Somebody grabbed me, I jerked around, and then… well, that's where it gets hard to remember. I guess it all just happened so fast that now it's blurry in my mind. We struggled, and I started to try and hit him with my golf club, but somehow he managed to stun me and then knock it to the ground and down the stairs, behind me. He backed me up as far as he could to the top step, and then he spoke for the first time." "What did he say to you?" came the almost whispering question. "He said: 'Well, boy, it's come down to the end of the line, now and you see who's still boss? I told you when you were eleven years old that you were going to learn to respect me, and now, no matter _how, _you're going to respect me anyway.' Then he leaned in maybe only two or three inches from my face and stared at me with fiery, insanely glimmering eyes and whispered: 'Goodbye, Drake.' Before I knew what had happened, he had stepped back and pushed me. I felt myself falling backward and I grabbed his arm, dragging him forward, down the stairs, along with me. When we both tumbled to the bend in the steps, he managed to grab a rung of the railing and stop himself, leaving me to roll on to the bottom. I started to go almost unconscious, but before I half blacked out, I saw him step over me at the landing of the staircase and run through front door. Then you came down and got me up, a few seconds later."

Josh's eyes were dilated in unbelieving horror: "What a… sick, abusive monster. Drake, we… we _have_ to do something about him. _What'll_ we do?" "…I don't know, Josh. But I do know that all of this is coming to a dramatic peak. And sometime, it's bound to start heading downhill." "You're right. But we need to take some kind of action, now." "But Josh—" "Drake's there's no options—such as waiting until later. _He tried to kill you._ I, for one, am not going to sit around waiting for him to fulfill his dreams." he finally said, some how finding himself back upon the bed and feeling the strained truth in his own voice as he held a firm grip on his brother's shoulders.

"What then? What can we possibly do to beat him?" Drake exclaimed, shrugging off Josh's hands and continuing in a completely over wrought tone: "He's just too powerful. He always has been. He abused me so terribly, and then made everyone think that I was just crazy, instead of him. I tried to beat him, but now I see that he'll always be winning. The game's fixed, and there's nothing we can ever do about it. He'll kill me, but maybe its better that way. You'd have your own room, you wouldn't have to worry about me doing anything crazy anymore, and Meghan would be a ton happier, she has always hated me for hating my real Dad, I guess. Mom and Dad and Anita might take it kind of hard, but in the end, they'd be better off too—then the only time I'd ever bother them is when a friend of theirs dies and they have to walk past the cold marble headstone of my grave in the cemetery." "Drake!" Josh exclaimed in a tearful, gasping almost - yell: "Don't say that! I can't deal with you like this! Please, just… snap out of it for one second! Fight for yourself!" The teenager that he was speaking to, sobbed and looked past his brother, out the window blankly, and finally melted forward, folding himself in to his brother's arms: "I'm too sick of fighting, Josh…" "I know you are, Drake, but fight as _hard_ as you can, with every last ounce of strength that you have left inside of you. For Meghan, and Mom and Dad, and Nita, fight. For yourself, fight." with one last disturbed gasp, Josh whispered the end of his speech in to the boy's ear, in a moving, hushed tone as he shook his head: "_For me, fight._"

The person in Josh's arms halted his crying after a minute and then suddenly pulled back from him, glancing again out the window beside the bed, taking on an unhinged, almost frightening look in his eyes and on his face, as he stared blankly in to the distance, murmuring: "I can't. There's no point in trying. … If I was_ there_, I wouldn't have so much pain… I would have all of this mess." The tone and words that Drake was using confused Josh entirely and made his heart almost come to a dead stop as he frantically exclaimed: "Where, Drake? …If you were where?" His brother went on as if he hadn't even heard him, with an almost crazed look in his eyes: "I would finally be at peace…" Josh stared at him, wondering what he should do, and wondering what the suddenly eccentric teenager only a few feet away was implying and then, finally, the meaning of the other teen's words struck his mind all at once.

"…Wha—what are you thinking about?" he stuttered, afraid of what the answer would be, yet already guessing it. "I can't tell you…" came the dense reply, as Drake blindly crawled across the bed and stumbled to the floor. "Wait a minute!" Josh called after him, trying to follow him as he awkwardly staggered toward the door and ignored everything he was saying. His brother jumped from the high mattress and bolted across the width of the room, slipping between Drake and the doorway. "What is this about? What in the world has taken a hold of you, Drake?-! You're not going _anywhere!" _"Yes I am. Let me out." Drake said, in a dazed, slightly angry voice as he began to try and push past Josh, out of the safety of his presence. "No, I won't let you out! Not until you talk to me and tell me what this nonsense is all about and why you're acting this way all of the sudden!" Drake continued as if he was deaf and didn't hear anything but his own demising thoughts. "I said let me out!" he repeated, in a yell, pressing himself against Josh's extended arm, attempting to break past its barrier. "Drake!" a voice suddenly cried from behind Josh, near the stairs.

Both of the boys jumped at the sound of someone else's voice-- in surprise, and Josh being caught off guard, dropped his arm from the doorway, letting Drake slip out in to the hall way for a few steps. The boy that was still near the doorway of their room, followed the other teenager quickly and turned to see Anita standing next to the top of the stairs. The newly broken dawn sunlight fell in an eerie bluish - grey shaft across her and both of the boys stood in a temporary silence, with their faces mirroring their feelings of confusion. She was hunched over a little and was wearing a painful expression. "Anita! What are you doing—" the hazel eyed boy began, being cut off by the girl's sickened voice, as she turned to look at the stupefied boy standing beside him. "Drake… he—he came! He wants to kill us all. _It's all over_…" with those last, three, strained and tormented words, her eyes closed and she stood straight up for only a moment more before her knees locked and she wilted helplessly on to the floor, in front of the two boys.

"Anita!" Drake mumbled, with fear flashing through his eyes. He tried hard to run to her, but he couldn't seem to manage to move faster than a simple limping walk. Josh, on the other hand, raced forward, dropping to the floor and beginning to shake her by the shoulders. "Anita! Wake up! Nita!" Drake's eyes were large and he stood over the girl and his brother, watching her for a moment before finally dropping down beside her and glancing over at Josh with a terrified and powerless look.

The coherent boy shook her harder, trying to wake her up, by himself after realizing that Drake was much too phased out to help at all. But what happened next, neither of the boys expected. And what happened next marked the beginning of a mad, alarming battle and race against life and death themselves—and a battle no one ever imagined those teen age boys would have to face.


	25. Threatened Existence

**Summary: **

_Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital b/c of Josh, a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revenge, even murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart b/c of old heartbreaks. R&R!_

**Disclaimer: **

_I don't own Drake and Josh, so don't sue me, please. LOL. --begs Nickelodeon for rights to the show so she can make this a "dramatic" humorous angst movie…-- _

**Note to Readers: **

"_Threatened Existence"… thank you for the helpfulness on the name, Britt! LOL! This is the chapter that none of you people will believe. YOU HAD BETTER LIKE IT! Gar. Aww, come on and laugh, guys! I'm just joshin' yah. …No pun intended. R&R!_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Threatened Existence"; Twenty - Five_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

**_Italic Bold _**paragraphs are flash backs.

**_Italic, Bold, and Underlined_** refer to the mysterious man during flash backs.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Josh's last, final harsh attempt to shake Anita awake, caused the thick black coat she had had draped around her, to slip from her shoulders and made both boys gasp roughly, quickly turning their heads in horror and close their eyes. After a moment, they both turned back and Josh bent over her, wincing hard as he drew the rest of the dark coat from around her body. Drake and Josh took in painful, shuddering breaths as they looked down, unwilling at the terrible sight that beheld them. Anita's shoulders and her collar were completely covered in blood, and her body was shaking from head to toe, even in her unconscious state.

"Oh… oh my God…" Drake muttered, seeming to snap fully out of his formerly suicidal condition as reality and mingled horror struck him simultaneously. "Josh! What'll—what do we--?" he couldn't seem to get the words that he wanted to speak, out of his mouth. "…Just… just help me get her downstairs. We can deal with this easier, down there." Josh replied, still quite stunned himself, but understanding that he had to keep his head to prevent Drake from loosing his own self control.

Drake drew the bloodstained coat back around her and within a few tries, both brothers were able to lift her from the floor and gradually make their way down the now long – seeming flight of stairs. Drake was deathly afraid that he would somehow mis-step and drop her, but thankfully, he made it all the way to the landing of the steps with out so much as even a waver.

It was all some what blurry for him as they laid her on the couch and tried to think clearly about what they had to do. Suddenly, Drake bent and leaned on his knees, making Josh look down in surprise as he took the girl's wrist in his hand. "What are you doing?" he murmured, in a voice buried in the intense confusion and terror of the moment. "Her pulse…" he murmured, not even bothering to say the entire sentence: "…Gosh, Josh, we have to do something—she's barely got a beat at all." The look on his face matched the sound of his scared voice. "I don't want to sound morbid, but why is she bleeding so badly?" the hazel eyed boy said, becoming thoroughly concerned and speaking quickly. "I…I don't know. From her shoulders, or ribs… or something. Get me a towel, we have to try and stop the bleeding as best as we can." Drake replied, looking almost ill as he tried to gain his head back. Josh felt sick at his request, too, and as he returned a few seconds later from the kitchen, he had to concentrate hard to keep himself from tears.

He knew how terribly fiercely Drake must have been fighting them back, and he felt his heart wrench for his brother. As he watched him lean down across the girl, trying to wrap her in the warm towel, he noticed that the boy's thin, fragile frame was quivering substantially, and realized that he must be only barely holding back a panic attack, himself. After all, this was _his_ girlfriend, lying unconscious on the couch and bleeding horribly.

"We have to call the police—we have to have protection and cops, now. And the paramedics for her." Drake spoke, making his brother frown in unbelief. "…Are you ready for that?" "Josh, I have to be. If I don't do this now, _we'll all die, _including her." came the amazingly steady answer: "This is d-day for us." He was about to say something else, but Anita suddenly let out a loud groan, moving restlessly under the eye of both teen age boys.

Drake felt an inward gasp leave his lungs almost - raw feeling as he waited for another action from the badly wounded girl lying on their sofa. "…Anita? Can you hear me?" he struggled, trying to keep himself from grabbing her limp body in a hug. She blinked open her eyes and he saw a frightened, horrified look flash through them. "Don't! Please! Drake told me that you—I don't… I don't know!" the muddled, confused and strangled words slipped from her lips. "Sweetie, I'm here. It's Drake! I'm here." he replied, gently grabbing her shivering, slightly cold hand. Her eyes slid back closed, but it was apparent she was still awake. "Anita… what happened? Can you try to tell me?" Drake spoke quietly, almost afraid of what the reaction would be. They waited a long time, but she would simply not reply. "Are you awake, Nita?" Josh asked, carefully.

After a long time and no sign that she intended upon speaking, Drake let go of her hand and turned to Josh: "Go… go call the police." The other brother felt the tense urgency in his tone and he turned quickly on his heel to run to the kitchen. He didn't know what he would say to the police, but at this point he didn't care. Anita had been a kind friend to him, and was probably one of the only things that kept his brother going, and no matter what happened to _him, _he was going to try his hardest to save her.

In the next room, Drake tried to figure out how tight he should wrap the blankets around the girl, because though he wanted to stop the bleeding, he didn't want to bring any further harm to her injury. He leaned back from her and drew his legs out in front of him, sitting on the floor to give his tired knees a rest. Taking his face in his hands, he sighed and shook his head, causing his bangs to brush up against the thin bandage on his forehead. He was surprised when he felt himself wince in pain, and realized that perhaps the cut under the bandage was worse than he had thought. But brushing the pain aside quickly, he thought more of the frail girl lying on the couch. He didn't even have to ask himself who had done this to her, because his mind was already ready to supply him with a morbid answer.

All of the sudden, from the other room, Josh's voice called his name, _loud_, making Drake snap up his head and banish the thoughts that he'd been thinking, momentarily from his mind. _"Drake!" _"What's wrong?-!" he yelled back, jumping up from the floor and hurrying half-way across the room. When he reached the kitchen, Josh met him so quickly in the doorway, that he almost knocked him over. "Drake!" "What?-!" he exclaimed, bending his brow and feeling an almost frustrated shudder pass through him. "The—the phone won't work!" Josh said, in a close - to - panicked voice. "What? What do you mean 'the phone won't work'?-!" Drake replied, frowning deeper and rushing skeptically to the telephone attached to the wall, picking it up and muttering: "You probably just weren't doing it right." He pressed the "talk" button over and over, but not even so much as a dial tone welcomed his awaiting ear. He jerked the phone from his head, smashing around the buttons and only barely refraining from mumbling select words under his breath. But suddenly, he came to a screeching halt as a thought hit him. His frown slid from his face and he opened his eyes a bit wider, setting down the phone and turning to his brother: "…Do the other phones work?" A knowing look of earnest and equal fear passed between the two brothers and Drake grabbed the counter beside him, to hold himself and his shaky knees up as he snapped his eyes shut whispering in a tired voice: "Oh crap. …This is bad." "It sure is! We _have_ to get help for Anita! And with out any phones—" suddenly Josh's sentence was cut short by a blood curdling, deep, scream.

Drake and his brother jumped back, out of surprise and then glanced at each other as they exchanged their own frightened looks and then rushed with out hesitation in to the living room.

Anita was sitting half way up, huddled in the left corner of the couch, with her eyes open in a blank, blind stare toward the wall across from her. "Anita! What is it?-! Why did you scream?" Drake exclaimed, rushing to the side and yet knowing already that the girl wouldn't understand his words in her delirious state. "He… he stabbed me…" came the murmured, breathy and weak reply, as she let out a muffled moan and fell back in to the cushions of the sofa, behind her. "Anita…" Drake said, choking back his words in a way, and sitting down beside her: "Can you hear me? Can you understand what I'm saying to you?" She looked up at the ceiling for a long while as if she were trying to battle something blocking her mind. Finally, the stressed words came from her parched lips: "…Yes, I can. …Get—get a doctor, Drake." And within only a few more moments of saying these words, she let out a gasping sigh and leaned far back, once again melting unconsciously in to the seat of the sofa.

Drake knitted his brow hard and looked up at Josh with helpless eyes and these few, heart tugging words: "Josh, we have to get somebody to her." "…You mean a doctor?" Josh asked. "Yes." He replied, slowly. "But how? There's no phone!" he replied, biting his lip and starting to get a bit scared of something that was hovering in the back of his head. "We don't _know that! _Look, I'll just go try the phones upstairs. And maybe if those don't work, we can use Meghan's secret separate phone line." Drake said, in a desperate tone. "You mean the one we found along with the control panel and switchboard?" the other boy asked. "Exactly. Man, though, I can't help but get so freaked out… I'm almost going to cry, but I won't. I just don't believe all of this has happened! I almost died falling down my own stairs, earlier, after he pushed me, and now _she's_ been…" Drake gulped out the word he had hardly been able to force from his lips, with a shake of his head: "_Stabbed._" "Gosh—Anita! We _do _have to do something fast. If she's already out cold again, there must be something really screwed up with her, not to mention she has to be in a ton of pain." Josh shuddered.

"Look, let's go try the upstairs phones. Maybe… maybe just this phone's battery is dead or something." Drake's words reflected Josh's thoughts so closely that he almost began to wonder if he could read his mind. "Okay, brother. Come on." He finally replied, reaching out and grabbing his brother's shivering hand, both of them letting out a reluctant sigh before rushing together up the stairs.

"You go check Mom and Dad's room, I'll check ours." Drake said, patting his brother's back and heading off in the opposite direction. Josh hurried off and disappeared in to the door way of his parent's room as Drake entered his own room and crossed it, rushing to the desk and sighing as he stared at the phone a moment before picking it up. He pressed the button to pick it up, and sighed again in a deeper tone, shaking his head in disappointment and slowly setting it back down. The boy stood there a minute, and then realizing the urgency of the situation, he blew the brownish - red wisps of hair from his eyes and exited the room, to find his brother.

"Josh!" he called, "Hey, Josh?" When he didn't receive an answer, for over ten seconds, Drake felt his heart beat speed up and his voice became a little more tense and strained: "…Josh! Hello?" Still there came no answer. The very thought and horror of possibly being the only one in the house able to defend himself made his head hurt in a big wave of sharp pain, and he gasped a tired "Oh no…" He wandered quickly down the hall and felt his heart speed up even faster—so fast that he almost thought it would burst at any given moment.

Then suddenly he heard something behind him, and he jumped, swinging around and letting out a frightened yelp. "Hey, Drake—the phone in Mom and Dad's room totally isn't working. I tried it, but it just won't—" "JOSH! You… _scared me so bad!" _Drake interrupted, giving his brother a full scale glare as he grasped a shaking hand to his chest, trying to get over the sudden jolt of shock he had just had. "…Why?-!" Josh exclaimed, with a bent brow. "You didn't hear me calling you?" Drake asked, in reply to his brother's own question. "…Nope, I sure didn't. But I'm sorry for scaring you. …Did our phone work? Please say 'yes'!" Josh exclaimed, biting his lip. "Actually… no, it doesn't work. The line must be cut off. And—well, let's say I bet I know by who." came the short and to the point answer. "Yeah, I know. It's kind of… creepy." Josh nodded. "Hey, let's try Meg's secret line real quick—since it's a separate line, it might work." the thinner teen age boy replied, grabbing his brother's arm and racing a few steps down the hall, pushing the door to their little sister's room open.

It was slightly dark inside the door way, and though it gave both boys the jitters, they still rushed inside, knowing they simply must get to a phone, no matter if they were freaked out or not. They walked across the dim room, past the bed and dresser, and to the closet in the rear of the four walls. "If I remember correctly… the last time we were in here—when we found that phone, it was right in the back of—" Drake let his sentence trail off as Josh opened the door to the tiny closet and both boys reached to the back of it, past the clothes, until they felt two little metal latches.

"Ah ha!" Josh murmured, then taking a deep breath as both of them pulled hard and let out a groan as the sliding panel came roughly out of the wall. "There it is!" Drake mumbled in return, with a satisfied half smile, as he began to reach in to pick the phone up. Then, with out any warning, he dropped his smile and yanked his hand back, yelping a loud 'OW!' "What is it?" Josh gasped, bending his brow. "She—oww—she must have some stupid clear laser trip - wire thing in there! I can't get to the phone with out getting zapped!" "Aw, man, I _knew _we shouldn't have tried to tell Mom and Dad about this stupid phone. She probably over heard us and put this in here shortly after, to keep us from 'using' it." "Wait, looks like there's a keypad for a code right here—if she knows the code, she could tell us for this emergency and we could type it in!" Drake exclaimed, feeling a rush of hopeful excitement in his chest. But Josh didn't seem so confident: "Nope, we can't." "Well why not?" "…No phone. Megs is at her friend's house, remember?" he returned, shrugging despondently. "Oh, crap! This is so bad! It seems that at every turn—every time we think of some way to fix this mess, there are some dumb strings attached." Drake sighed, dragging his hands down his face and blowing his hair back again. Suddenly a thought hit him.

"Wait! My car! Go in it and try to use the phone at the Quick mart down the street!" Drake exclaimed, shaking his head again in a last, feeble and slightly frantic attempt to make it stop spinning. "Right! Okay—" Josh turned and reached out to catch the keys that his brother had tossed to him: "I'll be right back and hopefully I will be bringing some paramedics, shortly following." With this, he rushed from the room and down the stairs, through the door way leading to the garage.

Drake walked back down the staircase and in to the living room and then suddenly gasped, realizing that all this time the front door had been unlocked and that the murderer could have freely entered whenever he pleased. He quickly locked it with the deadbolt and he returned to the middle of the room, to monitor the girl lying in there helplessly in need for medical assistance. She looked so cold… so helpless and hurt. Drake knew in his head and heart that with every precious second, a little more life was gone from her—and the reality of her slowly slipping away was driving him almost mad.

Letting out another sigh, out of many that day, Drake crossed his arms and frowned, as he leaned up against the fire place mantel. He was trying desperately to think everything out, but then suddenly, something began to ring in his pocket. His face waxed over in a puzzled frown and then his eyes opened up wide. As the ringing persisted, he began to shake his head and he finally reached in to his pocket, drawing the article out and murmuring: "…Un_believable_." Flipping it open, the teen age boy exclaimed: "Hello?-!" "Drake, I'm stuck out on the curb! The car is completely out of gas! _Somebody_ must have drained it. I tried to—" "Josh…" the teeth-gritted question came: "What are you calling me on?" "Because the car's out of gas!" "No, not _why, _Josh; _what!" _"A… cellphone. …Why would ya' want to know that?" "You mean to tell me that we went to all of this trouble—even tried to used Meghan's phone—and all the time, _our cell phones_ _worked?-!"_ Drake shrieked in an exasperated tone, in to the cell. "…Um… whoops. …My bad." Josh sounded almost scared of Drake, but instead of yelling some more, Drake growled and rolled his eyes: "Whatever! _Get back inside now!_ It could be dangerous out there, and believe me, I'm not ready for you to need paramedics too as I try and keep myself alive single - handedly." "Okay! I'm almost up the drive way now! Should I just leave your car in the street?" With a more frightened that agitated sigh, Drake replied slowly: "And _what else _would you do with out any gas?" "Oh, yeah—right! Well, um, I'll see you back inside in a second." with a little pause, the two hung up and Drake let a shaky feeling shudder through him before starting to finally dial the emergency San Diego line.


	26. Collapse

**Summary: **

_Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital b/c of Josh, a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revenge, even murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart b/c of old heartbreaks. R&R!_

**Disclaimer: **

_I don't own Drake and Josh, so don't sue me, please. LOL. --begs Nickelodeon for rights to the show so she can make this a "dramatic" humorous angst movie…-- _

**Note to Readers: **

_This is just a short chapter to bring to rest all of Drake's feelings and thoughts, and to explain things and kind of fill in the gaps. It's kind of odd and different than all of the other chapters, but hopefully it's not too weird. By the way, don't be alarmed by the random letter/number divider thing I used below (instead of just 88888888), because I just thought it'd be fun to mess with it and get a little artistic!_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Collapse"; Twenty - Six_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

Credits and copyright information for the song used in this chapter are located at the very bottom of this page, in _italics._

-((-08_—_80-))-

-((((8888888888888888888888888888888888888888))))-

-((-08_—_80-))-

The phone only rung once before somebody picked up, but to Drake it seemed as if it had been almost hours. Everything seemed like it was excruciatingly slow—he just wished he didn't even have to tell the person on the phone what was the matter, but more that they'd simply come right away. Every second that went by made Drake's teeth grit harder and his heart race a beat quicker, because he knew how desperately the wounded teen age girl needed help. Everything was beginning to hit him at once and he almost broke down when the person on the line with him said: "Hello, San Diego police, please state your emergency." and he had to let these thoughts flow through his head, to answer.

"My… my girlfriend is dieing." the thoughts in his head rushed over his open lips. "Okay sir, please tell me what happened, what your name is and since you're on a cell phone, where you are right now." the female voice replied, in a tone that told Drake that the woman understood how grave the situation indeed was. "I'm—I'm Drake Parker." he said, in a weak and helpless, quiet voice: "I'm at my Mom and Dad's house." Realizing that the boy was so estranged from reality at this particular moment, the woman sitting at the desk and staying on the line with him, spoke up in a sympathetic and encouraging voice: "Okay, Drake, now I'm going to need an address. Just try and calm down and think as clearly as you can for a second. That way we can get you as quickly as we can." This little speech snapped Drake back in to the real world and set his head almost completely straight. With a sigh, he closed his eyes, trying for a moment to choke back his tears before quietly bringing himself to say his address.

"Alright, now Drake, please try and tell me what seems to be wrong with your girlfriend." The comforting voice asked, kindly. "She… she's bleeding. She said she was stabbed… and I think she _was—_around her shoulders or chest. She keeps blacking out and I—I don't know what to do." Drake paused for a minute when he heard Josh step up close behind him and he glanced over his shoulder to catch him in his view. "You got the police?" the brother questioned, gazing toward the cell phone that Drake was holding to his ear. "Yeah, finally. Did you re-lock the door on your way back in?" Drake responded, blankly turning to look back at him. "I sure did. Believe me, I'm too scared to take any chances like that." Josh returned. Suddenly a voice emerged from the phone: "Drake? Are you still there?" "Uh, yeah! I'm sorry." "Do you know how your friend got stabbed?"

The boy froze at this question. "…I…"

"_What am I going to do? Can I tell her? Could I possibly tell her that my own… father stabbed my girlfriend? What if she doesn't believe me? No body would believe that! It sounds made up, or… or like I've been watching too many thriller movies!"_

"…Hello?" "I don't exactly know why…" he murmured, making Josh look up and cock his head to the side in frowning confusion. "I mean, do you know who stabbed her? Or was it an accident?" the woman asked, trying to get a clear answer.

"_What do I say?-! …I guess I have to tell her or otherwise—well, I can't let Anita suffer just because of him any more_._ Gosh, why does this have to be so hard? There are so many consequences! If I do tell, he could come after me and kill me in a second… and if I don't, Anita could end up worse off than she is now—even dead. Okay, I just can't let that happen. She can't die! Come on, Drake, you have to snap out of this!"_

After another dozen seconds or so of complete silence, Josh, who had been able to hear what she asked, spoke up: "Drake!" The boy shook his head and his eyes seemed to clear from their former daze, as he snapped up his head and sighed, holding the cell phone close to his ear and beginning to speak. "She was stabbed by… my Dad. At her own house, I think. She was trying to get to me and warn me of him, so she drove here. She managed to get up the stairs of my house and then she collapsed. I can't tell you the rest, it's just too long a story. But—"

Before Drake could even one more word of his sentence, an unexpected sound at the front door made him stop, as well as Josh, and look up in a flash. The knob rattled roughly and the two boys could see the dark out - line of a jagged body standing out side, through the thick frosted glass. Both of the two teenagers felt their hearts thunder with every single raging blow that was dealt on the unyielding locked door. "Hello? Drake? …Mister Parker?" The boy snapped the phone back up to his ear and knew that he had to tell everything to the woman on the other end of the line, and he had to tell her _fast._

"Look, get some cops and paramedics over here as fast as you possibly can! This guy—my Dad—is over here beating on the door. If he was to get in here, he'd kill me and my brother! Please, just _please_ get some body down here!" The pleading, frightened urgency in his voice sent a chill down the middle aged woman's spine, and Josh crossed the few steps to come close to Drake, grabbing his arm. Both boys watched the door as the banging continued, in apparent fear, wondering how long the glass would perhaps last until it shattered, leaving the two of the alone to defend themselves against the mad man. Drake, in a sudden rush of panic, set down the receiver of the phone and looked to Josh, who stood beside him—his eyes widening in fear. Then the thought hit him that perhaps he should have kept on the line with the emergency worker, but now it was too late, and he was much too frightened to think of how to call back. Besides that, what real good would it do? None. The only thing that could possibly help would be a swarm of armed policemen. But no, they had to wait, even though it was excruciating.

"Open up the door, Drake! I know you're there!" an earth shaking, slightly muffled shout came from behind the safety of the front door, along with more loud crashes. "I said let me in! I'm getting in, whether you like it or not! Open the door you wuss!" The cussing phrases that followed made the brown eyed boy shudder against his brother's arm and Josh spoke up in a terrified whisper: "Drake—what do we do?" But Drake seemed that he could do nothing but simply stare at the door, as the heavy man in back of it continued to thrash about. "If he gets inside—_Drake, he'll kill us!" _"Yeah, I know. But… does it really matter? I mean, he's not coming after _you. _If he did get in, you could save yourself and hide upstairs. But for me, though… well I hardly even care if he gets to me anymore. He already _has_ gotten to Anita, and so for me, maybe it would just make it better to end that way. Then I could at least… _be with her._"

"Drake! You don't even know what you're saying anymore, do you? Snap out of this! For _my sake. _For… Anita's sake, too." "Why for her? It's already too late for her." Drake replied in a dazed whisper. "No it's not! She's not going to die. Unless you do—unless you let your self die. You mean so much to her, that if she made it and you _didn't…_ she wouldn't want to live anymore, either. Listen to me and stop!" Josh's sentence left Drake speechless, but indeed awake and ready to fight for the girl that he loved so much… and the brother he loved so much, too. No matter what happened, he knew that he couldn't just give up and let Anita die before his eyes, after all—she was the only thing he really wanted.

You were the one

That I couldn't find

Hidden away

In the depths of my mind

--

Why did I let you go

You're too good to be true

I messed it up

And now I don't know what to do

We ran in circles

And wasted time

From right to wrong

From right to wrong

--

If I knew that you were mine

Then I wouldn't have wasted time

I wish I could erase the past

Now it's all collapsed in my lap

--

I over thought

So locked in my heart, yeah

There you stand

Your blue eyes hidden underneath your hood

--

Why did I let you go

You're too good to be true

I messed it up

And now I don't know what to do

We ran in circles

And wasted time

From right to wrong

From right to wrong

--

If I knew that you were mine

Then I wouldn't have wasted time

I wish that I could erase the past

Now it's all collapsed in my lap

--

My mind is blank

Just like a clean slate

Will I meet another girl

And the same name

With the Converse shoes I gave

Will she have the same laugh?

Wear that cute little hat

Bet I'll make another mistake

And think she's just another fake

--

Wish I could erase the past

I wish I could bring you back

--

If I knew that you were mine

Then I wouldn't have wasted time

I wish I could erase the past

Now it's all collapsed in my life

If I knew that you were mine

Then I wouldn't have wasted time

I wish I could erase the past

Now it's all collapsed in my lap

--

_© Copyright 2005, Alyson Michalka "Collapsed" from the album "Rush"._


	27. Broken Glass

**Summary: **

_Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital b/c of Josh, a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revenge, even murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart b/c of old heartbreaks. R&R!_

**Disclaimer: **

_I don't own Drake & Josh, I'm just having fun writing a Drake & Josh story like all the other Drake & Josh fan fiction writers on this Drake & Josh portion of I'm sure Drake & Josh would LOVE the Drake & Josh stories found in this Drake & Joshish part of the internet. And, I bet all of the other Drake & Josh fans like me enjoy reading these cool Drake & Josh stories. Need I say more? No? Good._

**Note to Readers: **

_In this chapter, Drake & his psychopathic father have a face-off. Sorry this chapter was so slow – coming, I have a ton going on right now and plus I had a bit of writers block, and also, since this was basically the pivotal chapter in this story it was kind of hard to figure out what I wanted. Anyway, this chapter should be worth waiting for. Only about 2 or 3 more chapters until the end of the story. Thanks for reading, please review!_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Broken Glass"; Twenty - Seven_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

"_Open the door, now, boy. You know that I could kill you. You know what I did to your little girl friend. And I can do it to you too."_

Drake stood shivering from head to toe beside his brother, looking on after the door and desperately clasping his arm in a frightened grasp. The door pounded and the hinges shook dreadfully, as if by only their flimsy metal the door was still standing. The man on the other side was yelling profanities and degrading words at the top of his lungs, and Josh almost felt sick when his words began to be directed at his brother. He wondered how Drake could possibly be handling the fear as well as he was. It was amazing to him.

"Maybe the neighbors will hear if he keeps on yelling like this…" Josh murmured closely to Drake's ear, in a hopeful whisper, but almost as if he had heard his words, the blows on the door and the loud shouts quickly ceased, leaving the two boys in complete silence. The only thing they could hear for a long, long moment were the beats of their thumping hearts pounding loudly in their ears, and the quiet sound of their strained breath.

"…Let me in, boy. I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just want to talk to you for a minute. It's been so long since I've talked to you and I miss you. I've seen you around town and all… you're really growing up to be quite a hand with the ladies. And pretty handsome too, I think." the disturbingly calm and much unexpected sentence was heard from the other side of the glass and wood.

Drake and Josh were still silent as they glanced at each other, and this fact alone seemed to be driving the man outside crazy. "And—and your band," he stuttered and stammered, trying to speak with almost sincere clarity in his tone: "It's great! You know… I once had a band, myself, with a couple of my guy friends. I played lead guitar and—heh, boy, did the girls come after me. I bet they come after you too, don't they? Just like your old Dad?"

Drake's lip was quivering in mixed anger, frustration and confusion at the same time, and he blinked his brown eyes profusely trying to hold back the enraged tears. But still he was silent. He didn't want to speak to him, of course, out of both fear for their safety and rage toward the man, but at the same time, even if he had wanted to he wouldn't have been able to come up with any sensical words. His mind was reeling at all of this perplexity and he hardly even knew how to think about anything any more.

A soft, almost comforting knock tapped on the already weathered door: "…Drake?"

The boy shuddered a grimace at the sound of his own name in his ears and he found the sudden strength to speak: "Look, I don't care what you happen to _think,_ you're not my father any more!"

"Drake, you know that I'll always be your father—you're _my child! _ Listen to me!"

"No, okay! For once, you're gonn'a listen to me." Drake exclaimed, gaining a confident air to his words, stepping a few steps across the room and toward the door. "My real father is Walter Nichols, not you!"

Josh was hardly able to comprehend that his brother had actually spoken those words—after all, this guy was his blood father… but Drake loved Josh and Walter so much that he actually accepted _them_ as his _true_ family.

"I may have your genes and I may be biologically structured like you, but one thing I _didn't_ inherit was your evil! And I _won't _be fooled in to adopting it, okay? So you can just pick up your game pieces and move on—maybe try to find out where you lost your mind. Go completely psycho if you really want to, but I'm just not taking any more crap from you—_ever again!_ What ever you do, I'm telling you, you're going to leave _me, _my _family, _my _brother_, my _girlfriend,_ and everybody else I have any connection with alone! Ya' got it?"

Josh felt his jaw drop and his heart almost stop, in slight fear, but mostly out of complete shock and amazement. He felt that his brother, after such an awing speech, should have been applauded, but instead he remained quiet and waited in curiosity, wondering what possible reaction the man would have.

All either of the two boys took notice of was the strange, jagged silence that followed, shortly afterwards. Drake began to feel the tension and glanced uneasily toward the door, shifting his weight as his brother looked over at him for a moment.

Not even a single sound except their edgy breathing and swift beating hearts was heard as the light in the room dimmed noticeably, and they figured that an on coming storm had passed over the house.

Who knows how many friction - filled, quiet minutes went past before Josh finally stirred from staring across, at the door. "…Drake," he whispered, in a hushed voice: "Do you think he's still there? Or has he actually left?"

"I don't know. But… but shh for a minute, just incase he's still out there." Drake finally said, taking a few steps away from the front door, to check on Anita.

"Oh, man, Josh—look…" came the distant, miserable murmur of words after Drake leaned over and pulled the blanket gently from around the shallowly breathing teenager, "She's bleeding worse. And—and look at her arms—she's trembling so hard!"

After a minute, a soft, caring hand rested on his shoulder and his brother's comforting voice spoke quietly in his ear: "Hey, come on, Drake, don't be scared. Anita is going to be just fine in a little while. And the police will be in a few minutes, okay? We can pull through until then, right?"

Drake let out a shaky sigh and turned his head to catch Josh in his glance: "But Josh, _he_ knows that, too! And… I never thought he'd even go _this_ far! Gosh, the second we found out that he killed Great Uncle Gavin, we should have told Mom and Dad. It was totally stupid not to! I knew we should have told them, but no, I had to let my ignorance block my gut feeling. Now take a look at Anita—my girl, the best girl in the entire world, Anita—she's more than likely dieing on my own couch, right before my eyes and it's all of my fault. And the very worst of it all is that there's nothing I can do about it, except wait."

This heart felt statement made Josh silent with compassion and yet worry for his brother and he couldn't help but wince when Drake shook his head and ran a hand through his wild bangs, letting out an almost painful groan: "Oh, how long does it have to be before the police get here?"

Josh blinked his hazel eyes and tried to think of _anything_ positive to tell him, when all of the sudden, something behind them crashed.

Recognizing instantly the unexpected sound of shattering glass, both of them felt every nerve in their bodies stiffen and they couldn't help but jump, as they spun around to see what had made it.

The room had turned almost completely dim, because of the brewing storm outside, except for the very front of the foyer. A shaft of bland, grey sunlight fell over the wood floor, in an odd, jagged shape and the reflection it gave off of the busted casement nearly blinded them.

What Drake and Josh saw made them both freeze in absolute terror and all they could do was watch helplessly as more of the broken glass fell from the damaged front door and snapped in half when it hit the floor below.

After only maybe a single moment, the wooden handle of an axe poked out the rest of the destroyed pane and a rough, shadowy hand reach through and turned the key in the dead bolt lock of the door, twisting it slowly and trying hard to unlock it.

"D—Drake!" Josh murmured, flashing his frightened eyes over to him for a mere second.

He had begun to say something else to him, as the door knob started to turn, but he was cut off as his brother suddenly darted forward and dove at the door, slamming it closed again and pinning it closed as best as he could.

"Drake, don't! He's going to ki—"

"Josh," the teen age boy interrupted him, in a breathless voice: "Go to the back—you know, to the _laundry room._"

"Why would I do that?"

"Josh, go! And if you really want to help me, just _wait for the cars!"_

Josh knew his brother was trying to relay some coded message to him that was very urgent, and he _did_ want to help all that he could, but he _couldn't _figure even part of the sentence out. _The laundry room?_

Almost as if he had read his mind, Drake pushed harder on the door and tossed his hair from his eyes, nodding toward the hall way on the other side of the room: "_Go!"_

Josh frowned at the imperative request, but turned and reluctantly left his brother, running in to the hallway and then in to the laundry room. Still, being worried about getting back to Drake before the other guy got to him first, made him even less able to think straight. With a shake of his head and a deep sigh, Josh slapped a hand to the side of his head, looking around the tiny room for any sign of what his step brother had been speaking of in such a mysterious way.

And then, finally, as he spoke Drake's words to himself, it hit him.

"Wait… 'Just wait for the cars'? He meant police cars! But why did he send me in here, to the laundry room?"

Then scanning the room one final time, that fact hit him too, as his eyes passed over the door that led to the side yard, realizing that Drake had intended for him to go out and stay in the side yard until the police came, so he could lead them in to the house.

But he couldn't let Drake stay in the house with a maniac by _himself _for that long! And even if the man wasn't in the house as of yet, Josh knew that his slim teen age brother couldn't possibly have enough strength to hold the door closed for _very_ long.

He was torn between the two options, because thought he trusted Drake's natural instincts, he also knew how psycho his Dad could be, and he knew how it probably wouldn't be too hard for him to eventually chase Drake down in the house, since he was already so psychically and mentally worn down. Finally, he bit his lip and nodded to himself, deciding upon what he thought would help the most, and readying himself to do it.

Drake felt his feet slowly sliding across the wood floor and he reared back, throwing all his weight at the door at one time.

"No body is going to help you, Drake—no body knows. Your parents are away, and your little girlfriend is dieing. Not that she'd be much of a help, anyway. The only person who knows is your great uncle, but it's just a little too late, isn't it? _…A dead man can't help you._"the man spoke from behind the door, trying to weaken the boy, with a voice so quiet and deep that it was almost lost in the noise of Drake's feet sliding on the rug below and his muffled groans as he tried with the strength of every muscle to hold down the door.

He didn't reply to these insane words, but instead leaned harder in to the broken surface in front of him, with vigor he thought he didn't have, and could only manage to think one, thing to himself:

"_If only the police will come… if only they will come in time._"

But even telling himself that they would be there soon didn't help—for he knew that even though they would come, time was swiftly running out and soon it may just be too late.

He had to do something—or _someone_ had to do something. Standing here at this door was working right now, but it wouldn't for much longer. His only hope was in Josh and him doing his part and getting the police quickly inside to them, when they arrived.

"$#&$, let me in!" a desperate voice screamed and Drake began to feel himself loose his hold on the door frame before him.

"No!" he barked back, cramming his shivering body against the wood and wishing almost that the man would slam his own hands in the door so he could begin get an advantage over him.

Strangely enough, Drake felt as if he had started to gain control and he felt his muscles just about heave a figurative sigh of relief, as he brought the door almost to close—but then he was dealt something highly unexpected.

With out even a split second of warning, a strong, coarse hand thrust itself through the broken pane up near his shoulders, and reached out to strangle his neck in an unrelenting death grip.

The boy gasped out a choke of air as he felt the cold fingers snap around his throat. He tried to struggle for a moment, but he soon realized that the man had no slight intention of letting him breathe, so trying to take a little control over his deep panic; he leaned away from the doorway and frantically tried to snatch off the tight, wrenching fingers.

Little did he realize, though, as he stumbled away, breathlessly massaging his throat, that he had indeed let his weight away from the door and he let out an involuntary gasp as it swung open.

A dead, chilling breeze wafted across the floor to him and he stiffened, straightening up in trepidation from his slumped over position.

His mind was racing quickly and his brown eyes grew nearly to the size of saucers. He knew that now that the door was open, he couldn't possibly stall for too much longer. "_And if the police don't get here fast,_" he thought quickly to himself, making his breath catch in his throat: "_Then there's not really much hope for me._"

A rigid, dark figure appeared in the door way and pushed it open as far as it would go. He was limping a little and by the way that he rested his hand on the door knob, Drake could only assume that he had injured himself a little sometime between fighting with Nita and the struggle with the door.

"Okay, Drake," the quiet, resounding, almost mocking words reached the teen age boy's ears: "I'm inside now. You can run around and act like an idiot if you want to. You can call the dang police for all I care—I don't want to hurt you, I just want to simply talk to you! _Talk! _God, you'd think I'd shot at you through the door or something!"

Drake bent his pounding brow and stepped back, shaking his head: "Wha--?"

"Why do you keep running away from me?" the man in front of him said, stepping closer and shaking his head as well: "I just want to be with you."

"N—no way, you… you gave that up a long time ago." came the quick but wavering answer. Drake knew the mind games were just beginning, but at the same time he thought he was much too strong to fall to these childish maneuvers.

"Why do you hate me so much? Drake, I_ love you _so much! I've changed. Really, I have."

"Why do I hate you?-! Why do you think? How could I not? I mean—seriously, just for once—for like five seconds, try to use common sense! You practically _murdered _my own girlfriend—she's probably even dieing! You abused me and my Mother and sister all my life; you ruined about a million of our dreams and little wishes. You stalked me, and most of all, you screwed up my entire life right now! For years I _still_ had night mares because of you! _You_. …I really can't believe that somebody didn't put you out of your misery already."

Drake's exclamation left the man staring with a mouth that was gaping open wide.

"You don't know who you're talking to…" he whispered, narrowing his eyes.

"You know… I wish I didn't." Drake replied, with sharp truth lacing his voice, staring with a disgusted look in to the face of his opposer, and feeling for the first time in three days that he was un-afraid.

As he stared in to his Father's face, he saw something that very few people ever see even once in their entire lifetime. An evil look rose in to his eyes that was _so_ evil that Drake felt almost as if he was standing in the room with a super-natural being. He had _never _seen such blatant, vile sin in the face of any one and he hoped from that moment on that he never, ever would again. Drake could not at this point help falling completely in to terror, as a shiver raced down his spine, for there was not only evil in those eyes, but there was something more. There was _death._

Before another second went by, the teen ager backed away several more steps and seeing though that the man was still following him, he turned and ran across the room.

"I said _don't run_!"the towering voice barked at him, as his son ran straight in to the kitchen.

Turning around and surveying his surroundings, Drake frantically realized that he was caught in a dead end and that there was no way out of the kitchen unless he was able to make it through the side swinging door quickly enough. But just as he made a sharp turn around the island in the middle of the floor, he slipped and took a fall to the hard floor. He hit so hard that it hurt, but he sat up on his elbows and shook his head, trying to clear his head as best as he could.

He could suddenly hear the pursuing foot steps of the man quickly coming nearer to the kitchen, and he felt his heart race as he bit his lip and suppressed a moan, jerking himself up and scrambling for the side door.

But before he knew what had happened, he ran straight in to his Father, who had stepped angrily through the door. The impact of the blow knocked Drake backwards, flat on to his back on the cold, hard floor, again.

He had thought that he could have possibly sustained enough strength to escape with only _one_ fall, but now, with all of the pain coursing through him, he didn't even try to get up, because he knew he would only fail.

He had slammed _so_ hard in to the ground below that the top of his head hurt horribly and the severe throbbing in the rest of his body was so disabling that he could only lay there, hoping it would quickly pass.

"What do you think you are, you little brat? Try to run away from me, will you? Why—are you _afraid_ to fight me like a real man? You yellow - bellied wimp of a son." The almost laughing words emerged from the lips of the man who stood towering over him.

Drake bit his lip and felt the pain in his body lessen just enough so he could get up off of the floor and back away a few steps. "That's a lie." he seemed to be atleast gaining back some of his spiritedness and courage.

"What of it is?"

"I'm not the wimp. You can say that, but you _know _that the only 'yellow - bellied wimp' is you. Who abuses their wife and children and then deserts them, only to come back later to stalk his own son, that isn't a coward? And you are too afraid to even do it out in the open—you hide behind it all and even _kill a man_ to get my parents out of town so you don't have to face them!" came the swift and true statement, building in strength with every single word.

"Do you think I even care?" came the wavering reply, almost sounding unsure.

"No, I don't expect you to care. Only someone with a heart would care, but you've proven quite a long while ago that that someone wasn't _you._ So, no, I don't know why I'm wasting my valuable time saying this to you, but I'm going to say it anyway."

The man before him suddenly seemed almost less powerful… less threatening. Almost like a little kid in a Halloween costume—he seemed frightening but he really wasn't as immortal as he had tried to make any one think.

But then again, he _had_ murdered a man, and he hadn't even stopped at stabbing a sixteen year old girl.

Drake knew he was up against something very hard for many to understand, and he knew that his chances of coming out of this last battle as a winner were only fifty - fifty. But for his brother's sake, for his own sake and for everybody, he was atleast going to try.

"Look," he began, picking his words very carefully and trying a risky strategy: "I don't know what you want from me. I tried to keep my distance all of these years—I didn't ask anything from you, I didn't bother you. So why did you start chasing me and all of this? Do you want me to say I love you? You know that I couldn't do that. It would only be pretend." Drake's voice held neither smartness nor retaliation, he only used a simple, almost tired tone, to test the waters.

"You _do_ know what I want!" he growled, tensing and stepping closer, making his son step another foot back wards.

"Really, no. If I did, I'd get all of this foolishness over with. Do you think I _want_ this to happen? I want to settle _everything._" Every word that flowed from the teen age boy's full lips was carefully examined and thought out before said, and he made sure not to be reckless and blurt anything out, as much as he wanted to.

"I don't want to hear you talk any more! Shut up!" he snapped, chasing Drake back ward, in to the door way of the door to the front hall.

"I just want to know why! Why have you done this? What you wish to gain?" he responded, desperately hoping the police would arrive as he watched the flame of anger light up his Father's eyes once again.

"Meaningless child!—" he yelled, but Drake began to finally yell back and interrupt him.

"_What do you want?"_

With out a single second more, the evil murderer's look returned and found it's home in the face of the man ahead of him as he backed his handsome son in to the door frame and whispered with a malevolent grin: "You want to know what I want? Alright, fine then. I'll tell you what I want. …_I want your misery._"

At that moment, Drake knew he was dealing with more that just his Father now, but he was dealing with a thing—a thirst that wouldn't be satisfied until some one was dead.

There was no use in trying to talk with him any more, because even if the teen had managed to make him listen, what ever he could have said would have only made him more enraged.

So Drake turned and twisted just in time to make his escape out of the door way behind him. The thunder of persistent foot steps not far away made him long to run even faster than his strength would allow.

The boy scrambled in to the stair well and grabbed the rail, nearly throwing himself up the flight and turning to stumble across the upper hall.

He had no slight idea of where he was going but he knew he _had to_ run, and _where_ he was running, at this point made little difference to him as long as he was going _some where._

His heart was pounding in his ears and his head was literally spinning, so much so that he could barely keep himself from toppling over, but he still atleast had to _try_ to get to some where that was safe.

He heard his Father start up the stairs and glancing around frantically; he ducked in to he and Josh's room and looked for some where to hide from him.

Knowing he had little time and deciding on a spot, he darted in to the small wardrobe closet in the shadowy corner of the room, and closed its door behind him. It was within only a few seconds that he heard another person enter the room. He didn't know if the man had actually _seen_ him go into the room or not, but he couldn't help but feel himself shiver with the rush his adrenaline was giving him and struggle to silently catch his breath, with out moving a muscle. And he knew that if he _had_ indeed seen him scurry in to the room, surely it wouldn't be long before he found him in this hiding spot.

"Come on out of where ever you are hiding, you idiot."

Drake could only barely control his shuddering body enough to keep quiet in the closet as he felt the full impact that his Father's loud voice made upon him.

"Stupid boy. I should have never brought you in to this world. You're just a worthless _thing_ taking up air space. I brought in to the world, and this time I really _can _take you out of it." came the chilling, shattering sentence that seemed closer to where Drake was hiding than before, as the man started to laugh: "Pretty funny eh? What a perfect joke. Absolutely perfect."

The sick, twisted laughter began to turn the teen age boy's stomach as he stood, quietly in the dark, small space, hoping beyond hope that the police would break in the next moment.

There were a lot of slamming and crashing noises, in and out of the room, as if his Father was busy throwing around things to look for him. This fact made Drake upset and yet made him able to breathe a sigh of slight relief at the thought of the horribly dangerous man being in the _next room, _not _so_ very close to his present hiding spot.

He heard him go in to the master bed room, across the hall and begin to rummage around in their closet.

"_Wait, closet? Oh, no… oh no—he's starting to go through the closets! He'll eventually figure out that I'm in here, if I don't think up some way to get out, first."_

He mulled it all over as fast as he possibly could manage, and finally he decided that to _have_ any chance of survival, he had to _take_ a chance. And a _risky_ chance, at that. But none the less, a try at some peace of mind.

Listening as closely as he could for a length of about ten seconds, he knew indeed that, with out a doubt, his Father was still preoccupied in his parent's room.

With one last deep breath, Drake slowly opened the small wooden door and slid off his shoes, leaving them inside the wardrobe, before he stepped out and silently darted across the room.

He was careful to keep absolutely quiet as he looked around the corner and hurried out in to the long hall. It was only a few seconds before he was half way down the stairs.

The shaken up teen age boy had just rounded the foot of the steps and started for the broken front door when a sudden, quiet sound behind him made him jump and spin around.

Anita's fragile, whispering voice called his name across the expanse of the room, from the couch. He knew he should probably have gone ahead and made his hasty escape to wait out side until the police got there, but something in her helpless voice summoned him back to her, and he simply couldn't help it.

"Nita—" he whispered, almost voice-lessly as he reached her at the sofa, hoping that she wouldn't speak loudly.

"Drake!" she moaned under her breath: "Drake, h-help. …Something is wrong with me. I can't feel my arms."

This sentence sent alarm through him, and he felt his heart cave in pain and anxiety over her. He bit his lip to keep himself from spilling out a water fall of words to her.

This numbness that she was feeling couldn't be a good sign. He didn't really know what it meant, or what he should try to do for her, but the agony in her eyes told him that it was worse than she was letting on and though he tried to keep himself positive, he still could not help but feel that her sweet life was slowly fading.

The girl's face was ashen and it held a deathly greenish blue tint, as well as was the rest of her stained skin. Drake took her cold hand and felt that her arms had indeed become limp, as she held no grip on his fingers whatsoever.

A few moments later, the dark look came back in to her face and stars were spinning off in her head, sending the atmosphere around her in to unstable ground and after a last, tortured gasp, she fell back ward, in to the cushions.

Drake's heart nearly stopped beating in his chest until he felt her pulse and realized with great relief and little comfort that she was still with him.

"Anita," he spoke, in a soft, soft voice: "Please, try and hang on, for me." Tears formed in the corners of his eyes and he clenched his throat, trying to hold them in: "Sweetie, I need you more than ever."

Suddenly the air in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

"She needs you too, Drake—and she'll get you in a moment, if I can help it. Look at the brighter side, even though every one here on _earth_ will miss you two, atleast both of you idiots will get to be together."

Drake couldn't hardly believe it when the cold, taunting voice behind him spoke.

"_I didn't hear him! How did he get here with out me seeing or hearing him? This has got to be a nightmare. Some body please, please wake me up._"

He snapped his head up and quickly yanked himself up from his knees, on the floor, turning around and facing his adversary.

"You know, I really don't think the middle of the living room was much of a great hiding spot—it wasn't hard to find you at all." his flagrantly depraved laughter made Drake's skin crawl and he sucked in a deep breath, bringing himself to look the man straight in the eyes.

"Okay, no more hiding. If you want to have this out, fine then. I knew it would come to this thing, some day. I knew _that_ like ten years ago. So I don't really know why I should be even half surprised." he replied, trying to stall a little while he scrambled to think up a plan of action.

"Look, boy, that's about enough. I'm not interested in hearing any more of your back talk. I didn't come here to _talk…_" came the reply, as the man's eyes glistened and a wicked grin slid over his face.

"So, what do you plan to do to me? Stab me? Like my girl friend?"

"Oh, no, Drake. Believe me, that's much too humane for _you._ I have… how shall I put this? _Other_ _plans _in mind for you, my dear son." he spoke, slowly, reaching in to his bulging pocket and gripping a slender steel barrel resting there.

Drake had no idea what he had in mind, and he was so busy studying the man's face, that he hadn't even seen him reach in to his pocket.

"Other plans like what?"

"You'll find out soon enough, don't you think so? Why should you want to know now as to what means will be your end?" he asked, in return, letting a laughing smirk surface on his face.

"For once, you're right. It really _doesn't_ matter, anymore." Drake said.

"And for once, _you're right._" he replied, glaring back at Drake and shifting his weight on the floor, as he chuckled darkly.

"Alright. I give up. But I have only one more question to ask." the boy finished, with a deep knot in his stomach and a racing mind.

"I guess any body would be subject to atleast one _last request_." his haunting answer reached Drake's ears: "Go ahead. At this point, I hardly care what stupid question you ask."

"My question is only this. What made you try to kill an innocent teen age girl?" he responded, taking an almost un-noticeable few steps back from the man and motioning toward the girl's nearly - lifeless body lying limply and powerlessly on the sofa, "She had never done any thing to you, had she? I can even under stand you're feeling the need to bring harm to _me_—you lived with me and I chose to step away from you. But why her? She could have had a life and a future, even if you decided to kill me. I mean, she would have been upset about it for a while—maybe a long while—but she could have gotten over me. She could have moved on to find another guy and have a house and kids and the whole works. She could have had everything a maturing girl wishes for and dreams about, but still you did _this._ …Why?"

Everything was quiet for a minute, and finally the man spoke up—with not a voice full of sympathy as any normal person would expect, but one of bitter contempt and heartless coldness: "Because she had connection with you. Because she loved you. She would have done anything to save you, and she tried to. So she had to be destroyed… as do you."

With a clicking sound, the figure standing before Drake reached deeper in to his coat and drew out a gray steel revolver.

Drake felt the first real understanding of how horrible this man was pass through him, making him shudder and shake his head, finally breaking his stare in to his Father's unfeeling eyes and turning to run for the door to the hall, across from the dining room.

He was only halfway across the room when, with shock that made him jump, an explosion went off, sending lightning whizzing past him only mere inches from where he stood. He turned for no more than a second to see that his rival did indeed have a gun, and was aiming very carefully at him. If only he could dodge the other five shots.

Outside of the house, Josh jerked and looked back at the dark shadow of the building behind him when he suddenly heard the loud blast that could hardly be mistaken for anything but that of a gun going off. He lost his breath as unbelievable worry and fear over came him and he could only clutch and hand to his mouth and whisper a soft: "Oh God, please—please don't let him…"

You can't imagine the kind of things that were flying through both boys' heads at this moment. Drake was literally running for his life from an armed maniac in side, and _out side,_ Josh stood quivering in the soft grass of the side - yard, waiting helplessly for the police force to arrive and praying with the deepest depths of his heart that he would see his brother again.

As he reached the door way to the hall, Drake suddenly realized that he _couldn't _go through the garage, nor could he go out of the laundry room door, for the mere fact that if he was to do that, the man obviously would follow him—and Josh was out there. After all, Drake thought that even if he himself were to be wounded, he couldn't risk his _brother_ being shot, just to save his own skin.

With one last decision, he stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, luckily surprising his Father enough and thinking quickly enough to manage to knock the gun out of his hand and far across the room. The man was very clearly shocked at this for a moment, and Drake used this time wisely, by lunging forward and managing to knock him to the cold, hard floor.

"You may have had me scared enough to stand by while you killed my great uncle and my girlfriend but now I'm not scared enough to let you take me and my brother, too." the strained words drifted across the room as Drake and the man struggled roughly against each other on the ground.

Drake had the upper hand for a few seconds, because he _had_ indeed shocked his Dad rather well, but soon after that, the value of the shock diminished and he began to retaliate. Flinging Drake from above him with his muscular arms, he pinned him down below him in one single, almost effortless motion and laughed in bitter and vile disdain.

"Who says that you're strong enough to survive even my bare hands?"

With out so much as a moment more of time, Drake shouted out a reply in a deep voice and knocked the man's supporting arm out from under him, gaining back atleast some power: "_I do._"

This fight went on for quite some time, until Drake managed to sit up on his knees and knock his opponent hard back wards, disabling him for a minute.

He didn't want to have to beat him. He _didn't want_ to have to knock him out, or even to touch him for that matter. Probably because of his quite rocky child hood, this Parker boy was not in the least the type you would expect to be violent and he never imagined considering himself fight - material. But as he had told himself over and over, he wasn't about to compromise his own brother just because he was a little afraid.

With all of this racing steadily through his head, he was still for a minute, but after waking up again and snapping back in to the real world, he dropped back to the floor and began to struggle again. He was strong for a while because he was inspired by his own thoughts, but when the grown man really began to unleash his force, he started to lose. After all, the form that he was fighting was atleast twice his size, and full grown, making it very hard on him.

He felt a whimper issue from his lips, which he couldn't suppress, though try as he might, when his rival clawed and kicked him. He was loosing control fast and when his Father landed an extra painful blow to his newly healed ribs, he knew that it was time to start retorting against this man. With almost every last drop of any energy that he had left, he turned and let go of a hard punch, right in the jaw.

A gasping half- moan came from the boy's adversary and within an instant, the grip he had had on Drake's torso loosened enough for him to struggle up from the floor and stagger back ward a few steps, letting out a fleeting breath.

The person lying below him on held to his stinging chin with a bloody hand and let out a little almost - laughing whisper: "I wondered if you had any fight in you at all. Maybe you do. But that really doesn't matter." It was only a few moments before he was back on his feet, and he began to come toward the boy, backing him across the room.

Drake hardly knew what had happened when like a flash, his Dad grabbed his shoulders and threw him in to the wall behind him, knocking the air out of his lungs away and making his ribs throb.

"_Ah_…" he gasped painfully, trying to catch his breath and grabbing his middle.

"What? Does it _hurt? You poor boy_. Are you ready to give up yet, eh?" came the taunting voice of the figure that was towering alarmingly close over him.

"Not yet." was Drake's only reply as he grew strong enough to hurl a harsh blow to his adversary's stomach and escape from his pinned position against the wall.

The man bent forward and collapsed on to the floor, holding his stomach and gritting his teeth, and the boy stood still, almost not even believing that he had actually been able to disable him to this extent.

So, boy… what are you going to do to your old Dad? _Kill me?" _ the weak, laughing reply came from him after a silent moment, when he found the voice to speak.

"Maybe it has crossed my mind, old man." the cool, feisty answer reached his ears as Drake shifted his weight and began to feel a little bit more of the pain he had earned from all of this combat.

"Okay, fine. Go ahead—kill me then. But you know what, little boy? Even if you kill me—even if you claim that it was in self - defense when the police find my body, no one will believe you. Not even your own family. Then they'll lock you up in a clinic for teen age drug dealers and murderers and I'll be laughing. I'll still get the last laugh, Drake Parker. Even _death_ can't stop me from winning our little battle." he spoke.

"No. Now, it's _my turn _to tell _you_ to 'shut up'. I must look naïve to you, but believe me, I'm way past that. I couldn't possibly still be a naïve teen ager, after all of the things you've put me through. Maybe that was the good in all of this—I learned to not trust _everything_ around me and it all forced me to mature. As for what you said, I really don't give a crap whether you laugh your stupid face off. At this point I've arrived at now, I wouldn't care if you ever did _anything._" With that speech from the teen ager, the guy on the floor gained back enough temporary strength to spring up and land a hard punch to the side of his head.

It made everything hurt much worse than it already had, and Drake felt his weak knees fold up under him in obedience as his Father pushed him to the wood floor.

He gave several ample kicks and punches to Drake's stomach and ribs, and then dropping down to the ground, he finally drew something out of his deep pocket to finish it all of with, and to put an end to this fight.

As he raised it high in to the chilly air, Drake saw the cold, sharp steel blade flash like the lightning of a summer storm on the horizion, and with literally _no_ strength left, all he could manage to do was to lay there in horror as his Father bent close to him and whispered softly in to his ear with a voice full of only mock sympathy and concern: "I enjoyed the party, Drake. Thanks for inviting me. I'm so sorry you have to leave. …Goodbye, now."

"Get off of him." The thunder of a voice spoke from what seemed far away, accompanied by the distinct clicking of several cocked guns.


	28. Nowhere

I'm tired of all your _excuses._

I'm tired of all your _lies._

Your filthy _schemes & abuses._

Now I've finally grown _wise._

_- - -_

I got tired of _chasing it down._

Maybe it's _better_ if I'm not around.

- - -

'Cause I'm on a _Highway to Nowhere,_

Trying to get _high_ with out you.

And I don't know _why _it took me so long to…

_Wind up_ back at _nowhere_ with you.

I'll wind up _back_ at nowhere with you.

Wind _up._

Back at _Nowhere._

_Wind up back at _Nowhere _with you._

_- - -_

It's time for a little _payback._

It's _time_ for a little _respect._

You can't just _rewind & playback..._

All of the stuff that you wrecked.

- - -

'Cause I'm on a _Highway to Nowhere,_

Trying to get _high_ with out you.

And I don't know _why _it took me so long to…

_Wind up_ back at _nowhere_ with you.

I'll wind up _back_ at nowhere with you.

_Wind up _back at _nowhere,_

_Wind up back at nowhere_ with you.

- - -

I'm on a _Highway to Nowhere,_

Trying to get _high_ with out you.

And I don't know _why _it took me so long to…

_Wind up_ back at _nowhere_ with you,

Wind up _back_ at nowhere with you, oh.

_Wind up back at nowhere_ with you.

Oh yeah,

Wind up back at _nowhere,_

Wind _up back at nowhere_ with you.

Wind _up _back at_ nowhere_ with you.

Wind _up._

Back at_ nowhere._

With _you._

_- - - _

Highway to Nowhere - © 2005, Drake Bell: Telegraph. Written by Drake Bell; M. Shallman; S.W. Bennett.


	29. Breathe Out

**Summary: **

_Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital because of Josh; a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revenge, perhaps even murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart because of old heartbreaks. Read and review it!_

**Disclaimer: **

_I am Drake's & Josh's # 0 fan! So let me write this little story, okay, government? I'm a girl who just wants to have fun… and fun equals writing a Drake and Josh fan -- fiction story! I mean, come on, why do I even have to put this disclaimer?-! Don't we ALL know what fan – fiction is for?_

**Note to Readers: **

_The story is almost finished! This chapter is really long but I wanted to take my time to get it exactly perfect. Hope you all enjoy._

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Breathe Out"; Twenty - Nine_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Drake's heart leapt up in to his burning throat and the figure above him snapped his head up, looking to the door way to see who it was that was facing him. His hand faltered for a minute and disappeared behind his back before he raised both of them above his head and rose from the ground.

"Step forward and keep your hands up."

The man seemed to know that he had no choice but to surrender, and he stood up and walked slowly across the room.

But just as Drake and everyone else in the room laid back and began to breathe a long - awaited sigh of relief, something happened. All at one time, something inside his Father's head seemed to snap. His eyes grew fiery with a disturbed, psychotic look that would make any one's spine shiver, and his form became rigid and dark. Darting forward in a blink of an eye, the man retrieved something from his pocket and before anyone could stop him, he reached out and struck the police man standing closest to him.

With a gasp, Drake tried to struggle up from his place on the floor, but failed and lay back down after he saw that the other officers where already restraining him and had it under control. The police man that had been stricken began to fall backward, but he was caught from hitting the ground and within a few moments he was taken outside.

That commotion was pretty confusing, but somehow most everyone managed to keep the situation almost under control.

It was only perhaps a few seconds before some more police officers and paramedics rushed in and leading the out of control man through the broken door, they began to tend to Anita.

Drake was literally overwhelmed—in every way. He looked on as they transferred the fragile form of his girl to a stretcher, and they quickly hurried toward the emergency vehicle with her.

A medic hurried inside to help with her, but after he was told that he wasn't needed in that capacity, he turned and seeing Drake he made his way toward him: "Are you okay?"

A voice he hardly even recognized as his own spilled out from his parched, dry lips: "I—y-yes. I'm… I'm going to be fine." This was quite a lie, because in reality his ribs hurt a great deal, but he wanted every possible effort put fourth toward helping Anita, and he dared not to waste any bit of it on his own silly little pains. In his mind, his weren't half serious—and hers _were._

"Are you sure of that? Because if you aren't, we can easily get you to—"

Drake interrupted him quickly and faked a reassuring, yet still pale nod: "No, really, I'll… I'll be okay in a second."

Without another word, the satisfied physician stood up from the floor and quickly walked out side to attend to other pressing matters.

The feelings that Drake had inside of him could only have been described as "grey". Everything seemed covered in a thick fog, nothing seemed really clear, and everything felt more or less numb to him. His heart felt frozen of any emotions one way or another, and a general dark, empty sensation filled his entire being.

He had begun to feel _so_ mentally removed from reality, that he hardly even remembered what this no - so - foreign pain in his middle was when his ribs began to throb and sting again.

With an exhausted exhale, he sunk back weakly to the floor and was thankful enough that he atleast had some place to lie down that he hardly noticed how hard and cold it was.

"_This is weird…_" he began to think to himself as he lay staring blankly at the ceiling, realizing how emotionless and void he was. Only a few seconds ago he had been almost dizzy because of the rush of emotions and thoughts whizzing thought his mind, but now it was almost as if he _couldn't think. _Almost as if he _had_ no emotions left to feel, and no thoughts to think.

Suddenly, something seemed to flash brightly through the thick darkness surrounding him and his throbbing heart almost jumped in to his throat with astonishment.

"…Drake?" an unbelieving, soft voice called his name from the open door way, across the room.

Even though the fog in his head had become so dense that he could hardly think, he immediately struggled to sit up from the floor, in recognition, and turned to let out a helpless whisper: "…Josh?"

Before he knew what was happening, he felt his brother drop to his knees beside him and in only a second, his shivering, thin frame was wrapped deep in his arms.

With a rush that seemed to come from no where, something inside that had been blocking all of his feelings was taken away and it all came crashing down on him at once.

"Josh!" he sobbed vulnerably in to his shoulder, trying to find enough strength to think of something to say, but only being able to whisper his name again.

"Oh, Drake—Oh thank God, Drake." Josh replied, clasping his brother tighter in his grip and beginning to tear up himself: "Thank God that you're here. Bro, I was so afraid that you weren't okay…"

"Josh, I was scared too." came the distant, whimpering reply as Drake let himself lean on his firm shoulder for all support.

"Listen… It's okay, Drake. 'Cause I'm here now. Just… just don't worry about anything, okay?" Josh replied, brushing the tears from his own eyes and laying his hand on his brother's back: "Don't worry."

"But—but Josh, Anita—"

The light eyed boy quickly interrupted the weak, tear - filled worries of his beaten brother and hugged him closer: "Look, their all taking really good care of her out there. She's gonn'a be in the best of care, so there's nothing for you to be anxious about. Seriously, Drake—don't freak out. …You're girl's coming back to you sooner than you can even imagine and she's going to be all better. And meanwhile, I'm staying right here with you all the time… okay?"

Drake's heart wrenched in his chest when he realized how patient and caring Josh really was, and his kind words elicited a tiny smile from his lips, making him pull back to look in to his brother's face: "Thank you so much, Josh. I—I couldn't do it with out you."

"Hey, that's what I like to see," Josh replied, letting out a little grin of his own and looking up as the other boy tried to compose himself: "A smile's always a smile. Even if it is only a little one."

A few seconds of silence passed and Drake sat quietly, still leaning against Josh to hold him up and trying to dry his tears, when Josh spoke up in a gentle voice.

"Drake… are you okay?" he asked of the limp form lying against him, his eyes darkening in more worry as he slackened his tight grip on his waist.

"I'm… I'll be fine," he began, still attempting to yield from his highly emotional state, but only revealing the truth of the matter when he winced and bit his lip in obvious pain.

"What?" Josh continued: "…What's the matter?"

Everything was quiet for a moment more and finally Josh asked again: "—Drake?"

"Ah!" a pained murmur escaped Drake's lips when his brother's arm brushed up against his ribs and with that, the other boy became instantly alarmed.

"Drake, _what did he do to you?" _

"N—nothing. I'm—I'm okay." he replied through his clenched teeth, shaking his head and trying to catch his breath.

"No you're not 'okay'! Look at you," he paused, taking his shoulders and holding him out from himself so he could see him: "You're shaking like a leaf and you're a hysterical mess! Drake, I heard guns going off out there! Now, I _gott'a_ know what he did to you! It's—It's the pain in your ribs again, isn't it?"

By now, both of them where only barely able to restrain the gathering tears in their eyes.

"I'll be all right in a little while, Josh, just… please hold me and don't let go." Drake finally answered, his voice cracking and his hot, scalding tears beginning to fall as he collapsed on to his brother's soft shoulder.

"I'm not gonn'a let you go, brother… That's one thing you don't have to worry about." Josh answered, as he bit his lip and a burning tear raced down his cheek.

Josh felt horrible for his brother. Just looking at him, one could tell how abused and shell - shocked he really was. Drake's thin, battered body was quivering uncontrollably against Josh and his breath sounded sporadic and almost painful. He couldn't imagine what his father had done to him. He knew by the way he was acting and by the bruises beginning to form on his skin that he had beaten him and beaten him pretty severely too, but he still had no idea of to what extent this man had done damage.

"Josh, I… don't know what to do." his broken voice whispered in to his shoulder with a tone no longer really tearful, but full of a shattered spirit.

"My poor brother… Drake, it's only going to go up hill from here, I promise. I promise." he whispered sincerely as he felt his heart wrench in empathetic hurt for him and he stroked a comforting hand over his hair: "You've had to endure stuff that nobody should have to endure, much less only a teen age guy. All of this has happened to you so fast, and I can't even start to imagine how you must feel right now. I'm sorry. …I'm sorry for not really understanding about your Dad until now. If I had only asked more questions and thought more clearly on this, I could have atleast prevented _some_ of—"

"Shh, Josh, please." a strangely stable voice he recognized as his brother's spoke in to his ear as he rose from his shoulder: "You don't even know how much you've done for me. You never will, but thank you anyway."

He had started to say more, but his sentence trailed off in to an obviously pained cough and a deep intake of his breath, and though he tried to hide his tenderness, it was apparent that he was really in pain.

After a few seconds of time and another cough or two, the other boy shook his head in worry and spoke up to him.

"Brother, I really don't think you're as okay as you think you are—please atleast let me get you to a doctor out side who can check you over. Seriously, please." Josh's slightly distressed voice pleaded in Drake's ear, sounding earnestly afraid for him.

Drake seemed to have to think about this and it was a long moment of stark silence before he even began to speak. Then, in a slow, quiet voice, he finally replied: "Oh… Okay, Josh. I'll let the doctor check me out. But, look, I won't go to the hospital unless something is _seriously _messed up. Is that a deal?"

Josh snapped at the chance with a quick nod and let out a sigh of relief—after all, even though Drake was still as stubborn as he'd always been, he atleast had caved enough to agree to something for his own good.

"Alright. Now… do you think you want to try to stand up?" he began, laying a hand on his shoulder and looking carefully in to his face.

"…Yeah. As long as you help me."

"Sure, no worries, I'm right here." Josh replied, in return as he moved over beside him and grasped his waist gently in his right arm. After a second more, they bother slowly got to their knees and the stronger brother took a breath: "Are you ready?"

"Let's go."

With one last pause and a tight grip on each other, the two slowly rose from the floor and with a quiet laugh of release, Drake exclaimed through his teary breaths: "Hey, what do you know? I did it!"

"You sure did. But are you alright? I mean, do you feel like you _should _be standing up?" Josh asked, with a tiny smile in the corner of his mouth as he patted him very carefully on the back.

"Yeah, I'll make it outside, bro. Let's just get out of this house… I don't know why but I can't stay in here anymore at the moment." he said with a shake of the head and weak sigh.

"Right. Come on." came the understanding, reassuring words.

In a few moments, they had made their way to the open front door and stepped carefully down to the solid front porch.

Almost before either had had time to breathe, a man dressed in a dark uniform came running up and glanced at each boy: "Mr. Parker?"

"I am Mister Parker." Drake said, nodding for his brother to let him stand by himself, and slowly stepping forward on his slightly shaky legs.

"I'm Officer Jonathan Becker – FBI." the tall, slim man flipped a badge out for them both to see and he lent Drake a sympathetic and caring look: "I hate to have to bother you with any questions at all, but as an FBI agent, I'm afraid bothering people is what I kind of have to do."

"I'd be happy to answer everything I can, sir, but…" the boy paused and looked around with a bit of an apprehensive gaze: "Maybe if I could just sit down somewhere and—"

"Of course! Come right this way, you can sit down in one of the squad cars." the detective answered, nodding the way and leading them to their destination.

Josh carefully took hold of his brother's lightly quivering arm and helped him slowly across the path lying in front of their house, down to the curb of the street where Officer Becker already stood, holding the door of the police car open for him.

In a moment, Drake took a painful, scattered breath and sat down sideways in the seat, facing the officer and his brother who were standing outside of the car.

Hearing the way had let his breath out so sharply, Josh instantly rushed a step forward in his protection and spoke: "Drake, are you oka—"

"Y—yeah, Josh, I'm good right now. Don't sweat it." came the smooth reply, as he lent his worried brother a timid and tired smile of reassurance and then turned to look at the other figure beside him: "Do I have to answer a lot right now? I'm just so exhausted, and… well, never mind. Ask what ever you need to ask me."

"Oh no, I won't do any questioning _now—_I would have no right to put you through such things in the very wake of all of this. I just need a few phone numbers and names. We tried to trace Miss Prescott's parents or guardians but we don't know how to reach them."

A relieved look spread over the boy's face and he said softly: "Oh, I see."

"I'm sure we can both answer those questions pretty easily." Josh interjected, noticing how weak his brother suddenly looked: "—And um, thank you for taking it easy on my brother, sir, 'cause… he's been through a lot lately."

Drake felt a little warmth in his heart after hearing the hazel-eyed boy say this in such a quiet manner and he looked over at him, locking glances and relaying his own thanks to him with his eyes.

"No, thank _you._" the man replied, retrieving a pen and note pad from his pocket: "I know that this is a hard subject for you right now, but do you think either of you boys could give me the number of one of Miss Prescott's parents or guardians or eh…"

"Her parents—I have atleast one of their cell phone numbers on my cellphone list… hold on a minute." Josh interposed, reaching in to his pocket and pulling it out. Every moment or so as he looked for the number, he'd make sure and look up at his quiet brother sitting in the car to make sure he was atleast half okay for a minute.

"Ah—okay, here's the number." He finally spoke up, turning the cell around for the policeman to see so he could copy down the several digits.

"…Alright, thank you. And now for your parent's names and numbers please?"

At this both boys bit their lips and looked at each other. It was then when Drake really started to falter, because he had quite forgotten about his parents. It would be mind-blowing to try to tell them what had conspired since they had been gone. But then, he suddenly realized how very much they would worry getting this call from a police officer unless they could talk directly to _him._

"Hey, about that. Um, I kind of want to tell them myself. I—I mean, if that would be _okay,_ because if not, then I could just—" Drake let the rest of his sentence disappear in to the silence.

"Well, I really should call them myself, Drake." the police man began, making his heart sink, but then spoke up again: "But, I guess it _would_ be less traumatic if they talked to you first."

"Oh, thank you so much. It's going to be a lot easier that way." Drake said, resting his head on the edge of the car door.

"It's all I can do. Now, listen, I'll be back in a few minutes, I have to go tie up everything with Miss Prescott and your Father."

And with out another word, the man hurried off to a large crowd on the other side of the lawn and left Drake to cringe at the last two words that he had spoken.

"Drake?" a quiet voice close by asked a moment later, making him snap out of his shivering stare and look look up.

"…Josh?"

"You want to call Mom and Dad now?" he asked, holding out his cell phone and offering a look of understanding sympathy.

"I guess I have to call them _sometime._ I just don't know what I'm going to say, you know?" Drake said, taking the phone and sighing against the car seat.

"How do you feel? You look so tired." Josh replied gently, sitting down close beside his brother, on the frame of the vehicle's floor.

"I really… I really don't know. I just feel numb. I mean, just feel like almost crying every time I think about _her._ And… and it still hurts." He mumbled, grasping slowly at his ribs.

"I think you're in like… shock, Drake. But look, you may feel kind of numb right now but that will go away soon. Especially when this all settles down and you can rest." with this Josh bent his brow and stood up, after hearing something behind them.

All of the sudden, he whispered: "Oh, Drake…"

"What is it?" he feebly spoke these quiet words.

"I think… Anita's leaving, now." came the gentle answer.

"W—Where?" Drake asked, dropping the cell phone in the seat of the car and rising frantically to look over the roof.

"Right there."

A moment or two passed before the boy realized which ambulance it was that carried the girl with in it, but when it started to move slowly back in to the street and the siren began to whirr loudly in their ears, he looked up and restrained new tears.

As Drake watched the vehicle pull in to street and begin to drive off, a soft hand on his back startled him a little bit, but his brother's comforting voice almost made it all better when he spoke in a whisper behind him: "We're going to get though this. I swear."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Josh clasped Drake's hand comfortingly as they rode along the road, together in the back seat of another squad car. Drake hadn't yet called his parents, because the instant Anita's ambulance had left, an officer had thrown them in to the car and in a whirl of confusion, they were now heading to the hospital to meet up with the wounded girl.

Drake felt terrible, but he didn't really know it at the time. Things had happened so fast that he'd become numb to most of his own feelings and pain for a while.

Josh knew that the officer in the next police car was phoning Anita's parents at this very moment, and although he was worried about how they were going to react to the terrible news, he was glad that he the other boy were in a separate car, so they didn't have to listen to it. For Drake, it would have been one stress too many and Josh feared that only one more strain on his brother may have caused an overload.

"Oh…" Drake suddenly whispered quietly, sinking lower in his seat as the sirens blared all around them.

"What is it?" Josh replied at this prompt, snapping out of his thoughts and his face dropping in to a frown.

"I suddenly feel like… like I'm so weak that I'm going to pass out." with this answer, Drake breathed out a shuddering breath and then weakly bent over and laid his head on Josh's shoulder.

"Woah, man, are you really going to pass out?" he asked, resting a worried hand on his shaking knee.

"N—no, I think I'll be good in a second. This feeling comes and goes on and off." he responded, with a deep shudder as he closed his eyes and rested his mind for a minute.

"Drake, what if you aren't 'good', though? I mean, I don't know… _what_ he did to you, but you could even have like a serious concussion!" Josh sounded very flustered and upset and he wrapped a protective arm around his brother's waist to comfort him, though he himself needed more comforting.

"Josh," he began, shaking his head tiredly and offering a little barely - visible smile: "Don't worry so much about me."

"How can I _help _but worry? I mean, you're my brother and I don't know what I would do if anything were to happen to you." Josh said, hugging him with his arm for a second and then glancing at him to observe his expression.

"Josh, seriously, bro, I'm not going anywhere and nothing's going to happen to me."

"Of course it's not! Nothing _could_ happen to you since I'm so right here to over - protect you." he replied, finally relaxing his arm and his grip on his brother as he let out a last sigh: "Just don't _you_ be worried. 'Cause I _will not_ leave you. I _will not,_ okay?"

The auburn boy sighed too and nodded, feeling thankful for his brother's comfort at this time, because with out it, he didn't want to imagine where he'd be.

A few more quiet minutes went by and Drake could only hug up against the strong, blue - eyed teen ager sitting straight in the seat beside him until a loud voice of a police officer rang over the c.b. radio in the front of the car with the words: "Okay, we're here at the hospital. Lieutenant Terrell and a few of the other boys are talking 'Parker back to head quarters. The paramedics are working on getting the girl inside fast. Copy?"

As the cop in the driver's seat answered, Josh looked to Drake to see how he was. He was staring off out the window of the car at the familiar hospital looming before them and his eyes were almost glazed over in a sort of dead - to - the - world expression.

The vehicle pulled to a stop and Josh spoke his name gently, causing him to stir and look up: "Drake—we're ready to go."

"Right…" was the distant reply, lost in the noise around them as they nearly tumbled from the automobile and began toward the inside of the hospital.

They walked together, led by a policeman until they met up with the FBI man, Officer Becker coming toward them in the emergency lane of the parking lot.

"Drake, Josh—here, come with me, there's no time to waste."

Both boys hurried to trail the man leading them, and thought neither understood the reason _why_ there was "no time to waste" they both believed it and rushed faster, keeping step to the swift beats of their hearts.

The busy lobby of the hospital seemed all a blur as the threesome nearly ran across it, finally reaching the main elevator and only then pausing to catch their breath as they rode to the next floor.

Drake glanced around the small elevator and instantly recognized it as the same one he'd used a few weeks ago to escape the imprisonment of the hospital in. As he leaned feebly against the back wall and watched the counter on the wall tick by each floor, he could only shake his head in disbelief and sigh.

"_When I was here before, I never thought I'd be back again—much less almost in as bad a shape as I was then. And now I'm here for Anita! I just can't believe this. It's insane._"

Before he or his teen brother even could have time to catch their breaths, the elevator slowed to a stop and the doors slid open. Officer Becker and another policeman prodded the two boys forward, out of the elevator and down the hall as quickly as they could.

For the most part, Drake was clearly weak and quiet in thought, but finally as they continued to walk swiftly through the corridors, he spoke to his brother beside him in an out - of - the - loop whisper: "Where are we going, anyway?"

"I can answer that, I think." came the voice of detective Becker: "We're going to a waiting room to sort out the matter of Miss Prescott and to sign some papers. Also, I think your brother Josh, here, wants a doctor to check you over and I can't say that I don't agree that that's a good idea."

"Oh. Well, um… what kind of papers?" he finally said in a subdued tone, hoping to avoid the subject of his own health.

"Several different kinds, actually. Hold on, we're almost there and then I'll get them to show to you."

Hardly before the policeman's words were spoken, another officer dressed in the mandatory black uniform raced up to them and motioned toward an open door way: "Officer Becker, Officer Keaton—boys, right in here, please."

All five of them walked through the large arched door frame and stepped in to an oversized, white and blue painted waiting room.

Drake was more than glad to sit down when Jonathan offered both teen - agers a seat against the wall, and after Josh sat down beside him, he actually felt almost secure and safe for the first time all day.

Becker made sure to give Drake and Josh enough time to catch their breaths and for their wildly beating hearts to slow down to normal pace before he leaned back in a chair sitting across from them and looked to a police man standing nearby, to speak a request: "Go and tell the doctors that we're ready to sign."

Everything was pretty much confused in Drake's mind, but he still had held on to enough clarity to figure out that the "papers" must have something to do with Anita's care.

Of course all of this scared him a lot, but he didn't quite know how to process the realities going on around him and before he could even realize it, he heard his own tired voice shatter the silence: "This… is so overwhelming."

Josh's comforting hand found a place to rest on his back and Jonathan frowned, presenting a sympathetic query: "I know it is—do you feel like you'll be okay for a while until we tie all of this up?"

"Yeah, I guess I will. …I mean, I've made it this far. I'm just still in a fog."

"Hey, don't sweat it, bro. It's gonn'a get easier." the dark haired brother said in reply, rubbing his shoulder and hoping he could do all that was within his power to soothe him.

"Thanks, Josh." he replied, wrapping a limp arm around his neck and hugging him for a second, telling him that he meant more 'thank you' than he could even say.

Sitting back in his seat again, he rested his throbbing head behind him, against the wall until with a bit a commotion, several medical people and some policemen entered the room and came over to them.

Standing, the head officer began to speak: "Gentlemen, I'm detective Becker—and I think we're ready to sign the papers concerning the surgery of Miss Prescott. Correct?"

"Thank you Detective. I am Doctor Reilly, and I'm the head of emergency surgery. Uh, yes—I believe we're ready; I've brought the paperwork. But if we can let's hurry. There really isn't much time to idle in this case." the man in a white smock - coat replied, speaking of the paper-filled clip board in his hands.

"Of course, let's waste no precious time." Becker nodded, as Drake and his step brother also rose to their feet.

"Alright, then. I'm going to need a signature of a parent or guardian."

Suddenly Drake's heart sank and his eyes began to waver: "But—their away! I—I mean, their not in town. Neither are _my own_ parents!"

"Oh, no… you see I must have _explicit _granted permission. Are either of you over eighteen, then?" the doctor added, biting his lip in worry.

"No… we're not." came Josh's deeply concerned voice.

"Well then, there _is_ _one_ other way… As long as you're over sixteen, if you manage to get consent directly from her guardians, you can sign a paper of agreement."

"I have that consent, doctor." the detective spoke up, nodding and going on: "We made contact with Miss Prescott's parents over the telephone a moment ago and I can assure you as an agent of the law, the boy has full permission to sign the waver form."

Drake was quite dizzy from the quick pace of changing emotions, and though he was shocked to hear that they had contacted her parents already, his heart was overly relieved when he learned that he could sign the papers anyway.

"Alright, then, Mr.—"

"Parker. Uh—_Drake _Parker." Josh answered the doctor for his tongue - tied counterpart, nodding toward him.

"Mr. Parker. I'm going to need you to sign on the line right… here."

The clip board and the papers alluding to her clear need for operations staring him in the face was enough to make him nearly cry, but instead he reached for the pen given to him and began to sign with out any hesitation, wanting to indeed not 'waste any precious time'.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

There were a lot of papers to sign, and after they were all finished, Drake felt even more exhausted. He watched the doctors and extra policemen leave, with a sigh, and Detective Becker turned to he and his blue - eyed brother to speak.

"Guys, I can't thank you enough for co-operating so easily. I'm going to go now, but I'm going to send a doctor back here to check you out, Drake, okay?"

"But, I really don't need a—"

Josh knew what Drake was beginning to say and so with a nod, he cut him off: "Thanks to you, sir. If there are any updates or you need us or anything, please come get us—we'll be right here."

"Alright, boys. I'll see you later." He responded, with a smile as he walked out of the room and down the long hall.

After a long moment of silence, Drake finally sighed and shook his head, looking at Josh: "…Why do you want me to get checked out? I don't need a doctor."

"Yes you _do. _You're just too proud to admit it."

"I am not! I'm fine."

"Then why are you shaking so badly, then? And why are you in so much pain if you're 'fine'? I can see what's going on here. And I'm not going to let your noble habits get in the way of your own health." Josh answered, looking apprehensively in to his brother's face with a bend in his brow as he laid a hand on his arm.

"…Why do you care so much about me, Josh?" Drake's voice asked in earnest astonishment, after a long moment of just staring at him.

"Because you _are_ my brother, Drake. …You'll never know how scared I was of what you were going to look like when you came out of that house, earlier. I didn't know-- I mean, I thought that the next time I saw you, you might be all stabbed or—or shot or bleeding," Josh paused, to compose himself before continuing and letting out a little thankful smile as he brushed Drake's messy bangs from his eyes: "And I was so, _so _afraid that he was going to _really_ hurt you. But, somehow, you're still here… right beside me. –Gosh, I just am so relieved to be able to say that."

Drake was more than touched by the caring Josh was showing him, and for once, a tiny smile came to his face as he weakly grabbed him in a soft embrace. For a minute, both of them had to fight off threatening tears, but finally they composed themselves, sitting back and letting out a deep sigh.

"So, anyway, please let the doctor check you out, okay? I promise I won't let them pamper you needlessly."

"…Do you swear that you won't let them make me stay here in this hospital for no good reason?" Drake replied, crossing his arms and then uncrossing them again because of the slight ache it caused.

"I swear." Josh nodded.

"Well, alright then, I guess I'll do it. …I mean, it does kind of hurt, and maybe they can give me something to like lessen the pain just a little." he spoke, softly feeling of his tender ribs and biting back a groan as he leaned back in his seat.

A few moments after he finished his sentence, someone appeared in the doorway: "Hi, there. …Mr. Parker?"

"That would be me." Drake said, raising a hand for a second and continuing: "Are you the doctor?"

"_That_ would be _me, _yes." the tall, young man smiled, walking over and putting his bag on the table.

"This is my brother—"

"I'm Josh." the dark haired boy cut him off, hoping to save Drake as much energy as possible.

"Pleased to meet you both. I'm DoctorThorton." he introduced himself, brushing his short black bangs back and opening his medical bag.

"I'm certainly happy that you've come, sir. Um, did Officer Becker tell all you about what happened?" Josh asked, in genuine question.

"He did. …Now, Drake, how do you feel, honestly? It is 'Drake', right?" came the Doctor's reply.

With a nod, the weak boy sighed: "My ribs kind of hurt… a lot."

"What happened?" he asked, digging around the leather tote for an article, and glancing up at the tired, coffee - eyed boy sitting in the chair against the wall.

"I'm really not exactly _sure. _ I mean, I know we… fought, but everything happened so fast." Drake answered, then going on in a quieter, shakier voice as he recalled the memory in his mind, causing Josh to sit closer to him and place a hand on his arm: "He punched me several times, but the most painful thing I remember, I think was when he kind of… pushed me down and kicked my ribs."

Josh shuddered at this thought and bent a deep frown of heartfelt concern in to his brow as he watched his brother become a little jittery and as he listened to him speak.

"How bad does it hurt on a scale from one to ten? And can you try and describe the sort of pain you're feeling to me?" the physician inquired.

"I guess it's about… a four or so. And it feels kind of throbbing, almost. Like the pain comes in waves. Sometimes pretty bad, sometimes not so much." he answered slowly.

"Okay, now let's see how you heart sounds." the Doctor said, putting his stethoscope to his ears and walking over to where the teen - ager sat. He held the end to Drake's heart and spoke up: "Deep breath."

Drake complied and sucked in a deep breath—but immediately began to cough making Josh start with worry and causing Doctor Thorton to pull back, looking up.

"Hey, hey, there—take it easy. Don't take it in so harshly, you'll hurt yourself."

"I—I know, I'm sorry." he replied.

"Don't be. …Now, just breathe in slowly and don't rush it." Doctor Thorton said, patting his shoulder and placing the stethoscope to his chest again.

This time it all went smoother, and the doctor seemed pretty pleased with the sound of his heart, but he did notice how much Drake had begun to shiver and he set a sympathetic hand on his knee: "You're getting nervous, just relax and settle down. I know you've been through a lot today, but you're brother's really dedicated and ready to take care of you. And so are all the people working in this hospital, so don't feel like you have to do this all alone, okay?"

"…Really?" came his quiet question, as he looked questioningly over and in to Josh's face.

"Of course, Drake. You're all through with the part of being alone. I'm going to be right here to stay with you from now on." he replied back, taking his hand in a re-assuring grip and nodding softly.

"That _does_ help me to know that, Josh. Thanks." he whispered, squeezing his hand for a second and letting out a worn sigh.

"Well, your heart sounds okay. You don't have to worry about that. But… unfortunately I have something to tell you that I don't think you _will_ like very much." Thorton said, biting his lip.

"Oh no. What… is it?" Drake asked in return, sounding very scared to hear the answer.

"It's nothing _too_ horrible. But I have to feel your ribs to make sure their not broken."

At that, Drake gasped in a hissing breath and spoke in query: "Oh, man… that's going to hurt really badly, isn't it?"

"I really don't know exactly how bad it will hurt. But I really have to unless you would rather go get lengthy x - rays." the man said, frowning in consideration.

"I don't want x - rays. They would cost my parents, and anyway—I don't have that much time. So," with a sigh he continued: "Go ahead. –But hey! …Just try to be as gentle as you can."

With a nod, the doctor spoke to Josh before he finally proceeded: "Keep holding his hand."

At first Drake seemed atleast somewhat able to control his pain, but as the young doctor continued to run his hand roughly over his beaten flesh, he bit his lip hard and finally let out a weak whimper and said: "Oh—oh, please stop."

"Are you okay?" Josh asked, feeling his stomach knot at his brother's pain and letting him grip his hand as tightly as he wanted.

"…No—no," at last he replied: "I feel like I can't breathe well… oh, _it hurts bad, now._"

Immediately upon hearing the urgent tone in the teen - ager's voice, the physician pulled back and motioned for Josh to move over: "Woah, it's okay, just lie down. I won't bother you anymore."

Josh took his brother's shivering shoulders and in his hands and laid him carefully down across the few chairs, and sat on his needs on the floor beside Doctor Thorton.

"Just take long, deep breaths and let them out as slowly as you can, Drake. You're alright, don't freak out." his smooth, comforting voice spoke, as Josh brushed away the troublesome strands of his deep amber hair which had strayed in to his eyes.

After a moment, Drake seemed to have gained back his breath and lying tiredly over the seats, he looked up and asked: "My ribs _are_ broken, aren't they?"

"No, their not broken." Thorton began, but Drake cut him off.

"But… why did I–?"

"You have bruised lungs and ribs. That's why you felt like you couldn't breathe. I know it may _feel_ like their broken, but their not. Actually, broken ribs have a very distinctive pain." he finished, looking back at the boy.

"Actually, I know… see, about a month and a week or two ago I got in to a car accident and broke a rib." Drake replied, shrugging and letting out a shuddery sigh.

"Really? That's terrible! No wonder why you feel so bad—your bone is probably only _just now_ healed up from the break and with all of this trauma I'm quite surprised you're not much worse off."

"Is he going to be okay, doc?" Josh asked, putting a gentle hand on Drake's shoulder.

"Drake, you should be fine. You may feel kind of dizzy at times or have trouble getting a deep breath, but if you lay down and take it easy when that happens, you'll be fine. As for the pain…" the tall medic leaned over to his bag and pulled out a plastic bottle of pills: "I can give you something for that."

"How many of these do I take?" he asked, looking up tiredly.

"Only two every six to eight hours—according to which - ever time you need them." came the answer as the tall man stood up and turned to close up his bag: "Other than you ribs, do you have much more pain anywhere else?"

After a moment of deliberation, Drake finally sighed and spoke: "Not much. Just bruises and soreness, but it's not really any big deal."

"Well alright then, I think I'm pretty much finished here. Now listen, you take it as easy as possible—and Josh, you make sure he does. I know you're anxious to get up and run around and do a lot of things, but you're going to _have to_ ease off a little bit. Now, I wish you both well and I'll see you soon. I'm pretty sure Detective Becker with return shortly." reaching out a hand and kindly shaking Josh's, Thorton patted Drake on the knee before picking up his baggage and turning to walk from the room.

After a second, Josh noticed that Drake had begun to try and sit up, so he promptly sat close beside him and offered a supporting shoulder to lean up against: "How do you feel?"

"I dunno… upset. I mean, I'm _alive_, but otherwise… Ah, I just don't know what to do. It's all so crazy! I _never_ imagined it all would happen this way in a million years."

"I know. I really feel for you, brother. I hope you know that." Josh sighed, reaching a hand up from the boy's shoulder and running it across the back of his head, smoothing down his tousled amber hair, hoping he could make him feel safe and atleast like he wasn't going to be left alone.

"I do. And thank you, Josh."

As he watched him make this sincere reply made, it Josh really think about how glad he _was_ to have his sweet brother here at his side, and that fact alone brought thankful tears to mist in his eyes.

With a sigh, a moment later, Drake began to struggle up from his spot: "Ah—I gott'a take these pills, I guess."

"Need help?"

"No, thanks, I think I can make it. Don't bother." he reassured him, standing up with the pill bottle, trying to shake off his lingering numbness and walking over to the water fountain. He took the pills both at once and leaned down to drink some of the clear, cold water, but was amazed at how thirsty he was when it ran over his parched lips.

After a minute of drinking from the fountain, Drake noticed someone standing in the door way from the corner of his eye and jumping involuntarily, he stood straight up to see that it was a nurse.

"Excuse me—Mister Parker, Mister Nichols?"

"That's us." Josh nodded, sitting up and looking that way.

"Doctor Reilly sent me to inform you that Miss Prescott's operation has begun now." she replied, looking down at a clipboard.

"Oh—t—thank you, nurse." Drake managed, clenching his throat to hold in the gathering need for tears.

The nurse offered back a little smile ad after glancing briefly at both boys, she turned to disappear down the corridor.

Josh sighed, looking over at him and softly spoke: "Drake, are you going to be okay with all this going on?"

After a swift swallow, Drake's answer came in a very weak whisper: "Y—yep. I _will be…_ I just have to trust that it will all come out all right."

Suddenly before Josh could speak, something in his pocket began t ring and made both of them jerk in surprise. Reaching in and opening his cell phone, an awed voice spoke in his place: "Drake… it's—Mom and Dad."

"What, really?"

"Yeah. Come on, we gott'a answer it." the light eyed boy said, holding the ringing phone to him.

"But—but what will I tell them?" Drake exclaimed.

"You'll know when you hear their voices. …Now answer it, okay? I'm right here." his brother said, with a deep air of support.

Taking the cell phone in his quivering hand and slowly answering the call, he let out an almost stable, hoarse whisper: "…Hello?"

"Drake? Hey, sweetie—why didn't you guys pick up at the house? Where are you?" Audrey's content voice calmly came over the ear speaker.

"Mom—Josh and I are out. We—"

"Out _where?_ And where is your little sister?" she cut in.

"Oh, don't worry about her, Mom, she's staying at a friend's house. But Josh and I are… um…" biting his lip, he frowned in frustration at himself for not being able to find the words to go on.

"Drake, what's wrong? You're voice is so shaky. Is everything okay?" his mother asked, after his slow sentence trailed off.

"Actually, Mom…" he finally sighed: "No, it's—it's… _not_ all okay."

"What do you mean, Drake? What is it?" she questioned in a deep voice, making his heart pump.

"Gosh, Mom, I… don't know if I can tell you!" his voice broke, and he wiped a hot tear from his cheek as Josh came up behind him and held on to his arm.

"Please, Drake—what's going on?" came the desperate whisper from the other end of the phone.

"Alright… look, Josh and I are actually at—the _hospital._" he slowly replied, trying to compose himself enough to talk to her.

"What?-!" his mother gasped, in a completely shocked voice: "Oh my God, Drake you two really aren't okay, are you?"

"N—no, we're fine—Josh is fine and I'm _okay_, I just have some bruised ribs. But it's Anita who we're here for."

"W—Walter…" Audrey gasped, holding the phone away from her ear for a moment: "Drake—Drake and Josh are at the hospital!"

With a muffled exclamation of "What?-!", Walter grabbed the phone from his nearly hysterical wife and asked: "Drake, is everything okay—do you need us to come home?"

"Y—yeah, Dad. Come home fast. Anita's hurt bad, they have got her in emergency surgery now. We're okay and Megan doesn't know about any of this. But… please come home as fast as you can. It's a crazy mess with police—and—and everything." Drake's fragile, failing voice whispered and his step Father was struck quite silent with alarm.

"…Are you at St. Schneider's hospital?"

"Yeah, Dad." Josh spoke, taking Drake's place on the phone and trying to get his brother to calm down.

"Josh—we'll be there in two or three hours, we're going to catch a plane immediately."

"But…" a hushed whisper spoke in the background and Audrey took back the telephone: "What _happened?_ Was it an accident or… or _what?_"

"It wasn't another car accident, Mom. But I _can't_ talk about it on the phone." Josh sighed, wishing he could only relieve his step-Mom's confusion and pain.

"Josh, we're coming right away. Just… take care of your brother." Walter finally replied in a truly worried tone.

"Alright, Dad, I will—I swear." Josh responded truthfully and with that, both of their distraught parents hung up the phone and the boy shut his cellphone, stepping over to where Drake was.

He stood leaning softly against the wall with his forehead in his hand, struggling to settle down and rid himself of the feelings that were rushing through his head, and to stop his incessant shaking.

"They'll never believe me when they get back her and I tell them that _he_ did all of this…" he said, closing his eyes and taking in a sharp breath of obvious mental anguish.

Josh thought long and hard, but he felt as if he couldn't possibly muster up any more words that would give him comfort, and after a drawn out pause of silence, he stepped close and simply wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tightly, with out a word.

"Argh…" Drake finally gasped, in a helpless whimper and he fell limply loose in his brother's strong grip.

"Drake—" Josh said quietly, realizing that he was literally incapable of standing up anymore from the ups and downs of emotions, and perhaps was at last showing normal reactions, instead of denial and withdrawal.

Nearly picking him completely up, Josh drew him carefully back to the chairs near the wall and sat with him, all the while gently stroking his back and whispering repeatedly that he was going to be okay.

All at once, Josh felt glad that Drake was atleast now acting like a normal person would after what had happened, but he also felt horrible about it and wished only that he could make everything go away for him:

"Listen, Drake, just sit here and relax. Mom and Dad will be here soon, and they'll take care of everything. …Mean while, I'm just going to do what Dad said and take care of _you._"

"Thanks, Josh," the shivering voice replied after a long moment: "Now I _know_ it's going to turn out okay, anyway."


	30. Biding Time

**Summary: **

_Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital because of Josh; a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revenge, perhaps even murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart because of old heartbreaks. Read and review it!_

**Disclaimer: **

_I don't own Drake and Josh, obviously. But I might as well… I mean, since I have no life outside of things Drake related, and spend every second of the day either watching the show or writing this story…_

**Note to Readers: **

_This chapter is basically filler… it fills in gaps, etc. It takes place in the waiting room, mostly dialogue between Drake and Josh, and then another unexpected thing is initiated by his father. Enjoy… your veal! ….Yeah, um, it's from… "Drake & Josh Go Hollywood"… long story. _

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Biding Time"; Thirty_

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Time seemed to drag by for Drake as he lay back in the chair beside his brother's and stared up at the ceiling.

He was just as spent and tired as he had been an hour ago when he had hung up with his parents, but he had only once again shoved all his problems back in to a little, hidden corner so he could try and deal with everything.

He finally spoke up, breaking the stark silence, but immediately fell in to an indignant mood and shook his soft brunette locks once in disgust: "Why did he have to be _my _Dad? No, why did he have to _be_ a Dad? I don't wish him on anybody! …How could someone be _so_ heartless, and cold and conceited?-! Anita could've never done _anything_ that deserved that kind of fate."

"Fate? …Drake, you _know_ that she's going to make it out of this with flying colors. You can't actually tell me you believe that she could possibly—"

"Josh, do you understand what that man did to her? He stabbed her! And I don't even know what else he could have done. What kind of surgery are they even doing on her? Is it _so bad_ that they couldn't even come up here and tell me? It's all just… exactly what he wanted."

"…What do you mean?" Josh finally asked, frowning in deeply emotional concern and leaning closer to hear the other teenager's quiet and quivering voice.

"I mean that he's gotten exactly what he wanted. Anita's probably dieing in there," with this, Josh began to argue, but Drake went on, "—Or even if she's not, she's still hurt. She'll always have that emotional scar, for the rest of her life. I just can't believe I let this happen…"

It took him a long pause of silence before he could say more, but when he did, it was meaningful and almost broken - hearted: "I seriously doubt I can ever be happy with out her. Even if she's fine… why would she want to be anything with the son of a man who might give her nightmares every night? Somehow he's managed to ruin my life even with out being married to my Mom."

Josh didn't know what to say. He knew that Anita would come out of surgery fine and eventually heal, but honestly, he had no idea what her attitude would be and what she would feel like about all of this.

"Drake, that's—that's just so stupid!" he finally exclaimed, becoming incensed with the very idea: "She wouldn't think that—she _couldn't_ be like that! You're the best guy _ever, _and for her to be blinded by this so much that she couldn't see that—well, I just couldn't believe it."

"I know, Josh. But there's nothing _you_ can do… don't get so upset over me." Drake whispered, looking away but still resting a gentle hand on his brother's shoulder: "…He knew that Anita meant the world to me, so he took her away. –Josh, he couldn't have hurt me worse than by doing that to _her… _unless it was you."

"You really mean that, Drake?" Josh asked, looking in to his face and frowning with sympathetic humility.

It was a slow silence that followed, before the slim boy finally responded with the most earnest of an answer that he could have given: "Yeah, bro—I don't think I could keep anything from falling apart if he had done that to _you…_ you're the most important guy in my entire life. You know that, don't you?"

After a long moment, Josh began to speak in a voice filled with only gratitude: "I…I think I do, now. …Man, Drake—you're… the best brother ever. I wouldn't trade living with you in my life for anything."

"Hey, me neither, bro—no doubt." Drake nodded at last after a thoughtful quietness, supplying him with a cheerless yet still peaceful grin and a soft rub against his shoulder.

A few minutes went by with out either boy saying a word, letting the soft-hearted moment go by with only soporific quietness, until the silence was broken.

"Oh! Uh… Drake?" Josh began, after that moment of thinking about something.

The boy sitting quietly alongside, barely stirred enough to answer him with the half - effort - filled mumble, but eventually did: "…Mmm?"

"How uh… is your forehead where you cut it earlier? It was really kind of bad and I just remembered…" he asked, in reply, looking at his brother's face with kind worry.

"Oh—" Drake started, taking his hand and brushing his long, tousled bangs aside: "I really don't know… I'd pretty much almost forgotten about it myself."

"Does it still hurt?" the other teen ager's blue - green eyes blinked, as he watched his tired friend stroke the bandage.

"In a way, it does a little bit. …But let's just say—it doesn't hurts as bad as my _ribs do._" came the answer, affirmative to what Josh thought.

"I don't know why the doctor didn't check it, though—I mean it could have been pretty bad!" the raven headed teen seemed to become sort of angry at the fact that one of his brother's needs had not been met properly.

"Well, you really _were_ right before about my hair covering the little bandage, Josh. With all the commotion over… Anita—and my ribs and everything, I'm sure he just didn't really see it. It's fine though. Really, I swear it doesn't hurt or sting bad at all."

"Are you _sure?" _he asked cautiously, still not feeling as if he had enough protection for the weak auburn – haired boy beside him.

"I'm positive. I'll—I'll be fine if I just rest and try to just relax for a little while." he added, with a reassuring nod.

"…Hey, there, you really _must_ be tired. You poor guy! I mean, you haven't slept much at all since Mom and Dad left for the funeral. And with all of _this_, say, why don't you go ahead and lie down and try and sleep a little bit? I'll stay right here the whole time, I promise." Josh tried to bargain with him.

"Oh no—no, I really couldn't sleep. Not until Mom and Dad get here anyway."

"Aw, but Drake, it's only three in the after noon—they may not be here for several hours!"

Josh's arguments where all cut short by the steady, slow voice of Drake's gentle retort: "I know, Josh. I'll be alright. I just need to sit."

And so dragging the matter out no further, that's exactly what Josh let him do—try to sit, rest and relax as much as he possibly could.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The soft hum of the far away doctors and nurses busily running around and attending to lots of patients and things all at once was beginning to lull Drake in to a calm day - dream and he stared sleepily out of the window behind them, leaning his arms on the back of the chair and resting his chin on his fist.

The afternoon shadows where gently overlaying the lawn and parking lot, several floors below, outside, and the breeze blew through the yellowy - green California palm trees a long way off, across the wide highway in front of the hospital.

With a soft, short sigh, he blinked his eyes closed and tried to clear his mind of all the staggering, racing thoughts, but soon he opened them again, daring not to keep them closed long enough to fall asleep.

This day seemed not like any day Drake had ever lived in his whole life. The entire experience seemed nearly _days_ long and it blew his mind to realize that it had all happened only _today._ He was so literally exhausted by all his emotional stresses that he had become almost feelinglessly numb, and only tried to keep from melting down.

He felt _years_ older than he had the night before when he had fallen asleep, and having this feeling kind of scared him a little, but he supposed that it would be a good thing in the end. That's all he _could_ do, to manage to hold on to whatever clinging sanity he had left.

He only could think over and over about how glad he was that he would _never_ be like that man. That he couldn't ever allow himself to cause some one else such deep, traumatic pain as _he _had.

Josh was sitting nearby, restlessly flipping through a magazine he had found and trying to sort out his own jumble of mixed thoughts, in the back of his head.

He was angry. That anyone could do that to his own brother, that that man would dare to be so deadly heartless to his own flesh and blood, and hurt him so much for his entire life.

And he was sad. For both Anita and Drake. Seeing either of those two go through any pain hurt him a great deal. And at the unbearable thought that they might actually loose her… Josh didn't dare to think that way any more.

And besides being angry and sad—he was confused. Of course, until today he had known virtually nothing about Drake's past, nor about his real Dad. He didn't know much on either subject _still,_ but from what he did know, he found a lot of questions and with every question, his mind spawned a new thought.

But most of all, Josh felt that his brother was a stronger person than he had ever expected. He always thought Drake led a charmed, perfect life, and in some ways it was true, but today he had learned that in other ways, it was drastically false.

Josh only knew that he admired him for being so strong, and that he was more thankful than ever that he was okay and sitting there beside him at this very moment.

"Hey bro," he finally spoke in a gentle voice, setting the magazine aside and brushing a strand of his soft amber hair back in to place with a optimistic smile: "Seriously, if you want to sleep, do it. I can wake you up whenever you want me to and it will be no problem."

"You're awesome to care so much about how I'm feeling, Josh. I _will_ sleep, eventually. Just—not now. I think even if I _tried _to fall asleep now, no matter how tired I am, I wouldn't be able to." came the calm, slow answer from his brother's lips, causing Josh to nod his own answer.

"I—I know you're probably right. I just can't help but worry that you're not being taken care of well enough."

"Aw, come on, Josh, with _you_ here, I can't 'help but' be taken care of." Drake returned, in earnest and then continuing: "Perhaps this drama will all end and be over with faster than we think."

"Sure it will. And hey, when Mom and Dad get here, it should all work out fine." Josh began, but hardly finishing his sentence before a knock at the door across the room made them look up.

Officer Becker stood there with two other men in tow, beside him. One was dressed in a police men's uniform and looked familiar to both boys, while the other was a new face and dressed in an all - black suit.

"Boys?"

"Yes, sir?" Josh replied, standing up and nodding the okay for the threesome to enter the room.

"Drake, Josh, I came back. This is Officer Keaton, if you don't remember him, --and this gentleman is an FBI friend of mine, Detective James Barlow." Becker spoke in a strangely darker voice, motioning to both figures beside him and making the boys stiffen in wonder.

"Pleased to meet you, Detective Barlow." Drake finally said, pulling himself together enough to stand and dipping his head in acknowledgement.

"Drake and I have talked to our Mom and Dad, Officer Becker. We didn't give them too much information because of Mom, but they are flying in instantly in a plane. It was about an hour or two since we spoke to them, so they should arrive very soon." Josh said, suddenly remembering it and letting out a sigh as he told.

"Very good, boys. I know that will be a great comfort to both of you, and a big help to us." The FBI agent replied, coming over to both teens and pulling up a chair for himself facing the brothers as did the other two men: "I'm afraid though, that something has come up and we must all have a long talk, alright?"

Drake's face suddenly lost it's color and the half - smile melted off of his face, and Josh began to speak for him, but he reached out a weak arm in front of him in apparent protest: "Not Anita."

"…No, actually. It has nothing to do with her. But it's still rather …upsetting." Becker said, at last.

The main look of dark fear slid mostly from the teen's handsome features and his deep brown eyes glittered in worried curiosity: "…What then?"

"Well, I know this may be a very painful subject for you to think about at the moment, but you have to be told." he returned after a moment.

"You see, an hour ago, your real father Joe Parker was incarcerated in the San Diego prison, but of course, he had his rights to one phone call." Keaton spoke, from aside the two FBI agents.

"…And?" Josh asked, wondering what strange thing they might be getting at, and pressing him on.

"Well, Drake, we had picked up your cell phone back at your house, off of the floor when we had been looking around for evidence and everything, and since I found it, I had handed to Jonathan—or Officer Becker, here." came Barlow's turn to speak.

"Yeah, it—it must have fallen out my pocket when I had started to… run." The boy responded, looking down and frowning, still in confusion: "But what _has happened?"_

Josh was thinking hard and suddenly he began to put two and two together.

"Well, actually, it's insane, but instead of placing a call to a lawyer or friend or anyone else, he called…"

Josh cut the officer off and answered for him: "Drake."

"…Yes. I didn't speak to him. He left a message to you on there, but I didn't feel it mine to listen to with out asking your opinion first." Becker replied, in slow explanation.

"Yes, Drake. We've all come to agreement that that would be completely up to you." Keaton nodded, looking him in the eye.

Sitting back deep in to his seat and letting out a heart - pounding sigh, the color drained again from Drake's already pale face and he whispered toward the sky: "Oh, dear God… I thought it was over."

"Drake, it's okay. You don't _have _to listen to that message, now. …And he can't get to you, any more. …Okay?"

Josh's comforting words came, and a hand resting softly on his arm made him know that atleast he wasn't going to have to do this all alone.

"I guess I need to hear it. It'll kind of be the… 'closer' to this thing." he finally sighed, closing his tired eyes and trying to gather his strength.

"…Are you _sure?" _Josh asked quietly, slipping from his own chair and kneeling in front of his brother's, to look him straight in the face, not quite caring anymore about the other people in the room.

It was a long time before he spoke at all; he simply stared in to the light - eyed boy face, with a glance full of thankful understanding and wordless gratitude. But at last, he sighed and nodded, placing a still shaky hand on his shoulder and speaking slowly, with a mostly cheer-less smile: "If you'll stay here with me, I'm absolutely sure."

Instead of replying back to Drake as he wanted to, Josh turned to Becker and remembering that time was very important said: "Look, if you could give us the cell phone, Drake will listen to it. …But we're going to need like a few minutes alone. Would that be okay, sir?"

Digging deep in to his coat pocket, Jonathan looked up and began to speak.

"Absolutely. Here it is—and please, take all the time you need, I know this is a delicate situation. We'll be outside—right down the hall, checking on Miss Prescott's current surgery report. Whenever you're ready, just come calling for me." he replied in an understanding voice, as Josh slowly drew the cell phone from his hand and nodded in grateful agreement.

With a knowing glance between them, the three men rose and turned to walk out of the large room, only pausing long enough for kind Officer Keaton to remind them: "Remember—we're only down the hall."

With that, all three were gone.

"Well, here it is. I guess this is kind of the last of it."

As Josh said this and sat down with the thin silver phone in his palm, before he could even say anymore, he was stopped by a quiet, weak voice and a shivering hand to his arm and looking up, he met the thankful, shimmering eyes of his brother, who was quietly tucked in to the small corner of the chair.

"…Josh—look, I don't want to sound dorky or stupid when I say this, but—just… thanks. You're really helping me, even if it means just sitting there beside me, or—or giving me a hug, or trying to fix my screwed up hair."

"Hey, Drake. Don't even say it—I mean… I don't want thanks, I just want you to okay." short but true and loving was the answer Josh gave him as he let out a long breath and looked down with a half - smile.

"Well… I think I'm ready to hear _it_." Drake sighed quite a long moment later, reaching out a little way to take the device from his brother's grasp.

"Okay. If you're sure, I guess you can go ahead."

It seemed as if Josh's words almost had time to echo back before Drake opened the phone and dialed to accept the message that had appeared on the screen—"1 New Voice Mail Message".

The phone was quiet a second before the automated operator voice spoke: "You have… one new voice mail message. To listen, press one."

With a last glance at Josh, and a reluctant finger, he finally pressed the key and heard the customary beep before the dread voice began.

And… at last it did.

"…Drake. I—I love you. I always will… I've just been through so much trauma and stress. I'm—I'm just afraid of being all alone. Drake… Please. …_Help me._"

"…N—nobody can ever help _you_." Drake heard his angry voice hiss through his teeth as the message came to an end and he snapped the phone shut, tossing it away from him and closing his burning eyes to lean against the window.

Josh grabbed the cell, being highly concerned about what had been said to Drake and quickly dialed again, to replay the message for himself.

The slow, "emotional" voice of the evil man drew fire in to Josh's rising heart and the last two falsely pleading words made his stomach lurch in to a deep feeling of sickness.

He waited a long moment after hearing it all, to let himself cool down and then letting out a sigh, he began and ended his short sentence: "Well, no matter what _he_ says he thinks, Drake, _I_ really do love you, and I'm _not_ lying about it."

Before another moment went by, Drake leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Josh's neck, quite catching him by surprise, but bringing a thankful smile to rest on his lips as he hugged his weary counterpart.

"I love you too, brotha'." Drake's weak and still upset, but immensely sweet voice murmured, after a second.

Josh felt himself tighten his grip on his brother's trembling frame and he sighed again, leaning close to his ear and speaking in a soothing voice: "Look, I know I already told you, but I'm here for you Drake. And Mom and Dad will be here very soon. You _know_ their going to take better care of you than I have."

"…Ah no, Josh. _Nobody_ could take better care of me than you are." Came the firm argument, as the tawny - haired boy drew a large breath in to his tired lungs and sniffled back his impending tears, slowly setting himself back in to his own chair against the low wall.

"So, I'm just wondering. What exactly does that voice mail make you feel like?" was the cautiously interested question that Josh asked and looked in to Drake's direction as soon as he had had time to catch his breath.

"Agh… it makes me feel angry—" he began immediately, running a hand over his face and clutching his forehead as if trying to sort out the entangled mess scattered in his mind, through great concentration: "Angry for Anita. I—I mean, what kind of coward is he? He doesn't care about anyone, no matter _what_ he wants us to think."

He paused for a second and tossed his bangs back, standing up and pacing the floor in fury: "And you heard him! _He's _been 'through trauma'?-! We see who the focus is really on, don't we? Even you see it! Now _you_ can even see how he really is!"

"I've _known _how he is. I couldn't exactly watch him hunt down my own brother with out realizing what a sick, demented person he is." Josh replied, looking aside and shaking his head in disgust.

"Oh, yeah, but you just wait and see what kind of brain – twisting stuff he comes up with in court! _That _will be interesting." Drake's voice was full of tired apathy for that horrible man, and yet worry at the same time as he gripped his forehead again: "Oh, no…"

"What?" Josh quipped, looking up.

"…Just thinking about court… and Anita, and—just everything, I guess. Gosh—" he continued, sitting back down: "I'm so worried about her."

"I know you are. You look like it."

"I am." With a sad sigh, he shook his head and whispered: "…This is the craziest day in my entire life."

Josh sighed too, and wondered silently about what could possibly happen next.

"I guess we have to call the police back in here, now. But man, I can hardly stand it all. Hopefully they won't ask _too much_ of me."

"They _should_ understand, so hopefully they won't. I'm going to get them, though, okay? I'll be right back." Josh finally said, rising from his seat and quickly leaving the room.


	31. Explanations and Expeditions

**Summary: **

_Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital because of Josh; a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revenge, perhaps even murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart because of old heartbreaks. Read and review it!_

**Disclaimer: **

_I hereby disclaim. Drake and Josh don't belong to me. Duh._

**Note to Readers: **

_EXPLANATIONS! Dun dun dun…_

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Explanations and Expeditions"; Thirty - One _

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Drake had been appreciative of the alone time while Josh was gone to get the others, because even if it was only a span of a few short minutes, it was still a few short, _quiet_ minutes to try and clear his thoughts.

"_What a mess this is. Ah… I **can't** think. My whole self feels numb like before, when I was at the house right after it happened. If only I could get away from all of this… and shut it all out for a little while._"

He only stopped trying to think for a split second, to look at his watch on his pale wrist.

"_Four - thirty almost. Well, atleast Mom and Dad will be here soon. And probably, Anita will get out of surgery soon. …Woah. That just sounds weird. I never dreamed that I'd have all this happen to me and my friends, a few weeks ago_."

His more - calm thoughts were soon interrupted by the entrance of his brother, and the agents Barlow and Becker, through the doorway opposite him.

Greeting Drake again, quickly, Becker explained that Officer Keaton had gone back to the house to finish rounding up evidence for later use in the court in a few weeks, and to see that everything was tied up in that area of the whole situation.

"I brought back Barlow because being a fellow FBI man; I thought that he might be able to help me ask you a few important questions before your parents get here." he continued, nodding toward his co-worker and studying Drake's face.

"Oh, questions? …Right now?" the boy finally spoke, beginning to feel intimidated by the agent's manner and proposition, as he glanced over to his brother and then back.

"Only a few, don't worry about it." Barlow replied, in a radically less - professional and stark manner than his partner, at least being able to calm down the teenage boy's spirit a little bit.

"Well, I'll answer anything that I can…" came the short reply again, as Drake felt his stomach begin to knot.

"Uh, sit down?" Josh asked, motioning an offer to both of them of their former chairs a few feet away from the boys'.

"Thank you very much." James Barlow added, nodding a genuine smile, as they sat down.

"Alright, Drake, these questions are quite significant, so please answer as you are able."

Catching Becker's certain drift, James bent forward a little bit in his chair and replied to him in explanation: "It's nothing really fancy; we're just trying to learn as much as we can about the case. Don't freak out, we're not going to deprive you of water or put you under a hot flood light."

This lightened Drake's mood considerably and feeling the pressure ease up, Becker turned and spoke to the dark haired boy: "Josh, if you have anything you would like to interject during the questions, please do."

With an understand nod, both boys traded quick glances and said: "We're ready."

"Okay. …Well, let's see, I think first of all, you should just think back over all that has happened and see if anything pops out at you that you think might help us."

"Oh, gosh—I have so many things. Well… the first thing that pops in to my mind is how he'd apparently been stalking me ever since…" when Drake faltered in his sentence, Josh readily cut in.

"—Ever since the car wreck. Uh, see, Drake and I were involved in a car wreck about… oh, I guess about a month and a half ago, and Drake hurt his ribs. But the phenomenal thing was that as I was cutting donuts and spinning out in the middle of the road, the truck that I hit happened to be Drake's _Dad's! _"

"Yes! I know about that! I was one of the FBI agents that filed that accident! And the man who no one knew was Joe Parker fled from the scene of the wreck after you had spoken only a few words to him! Right?"

Josh's eyes widened at Detective Barlow's vast knowledge and he continued: "Yes, exactly! It wasn't until I described the man to Drake in the hospital, that any of us knew who he was."

"And I guess just slamming in to me and Josh, reminded him of me after all these years, and thinking that he might be able to get in some kind of foot - hold with me, he began stalking me all over town." Drake filled in.

"Here's a question—when did your Mother divorce Joe Parker, Drake?" Becker asked, thinking hard.

"When I was fourteen years old. Wait—no, it was thirteen, I'm sorry. See… my Mom used to have to work a job in the day - time, because Dad was always quitting _his_ jobs or getting fired. So basically, all day I was alone with him in our house."

"And two years after his Mom got a divorce, she dated my Dad and they got married." Josh inserted, trying to piece things together.

"Yeah—which kind of left dad out of the picture. Mom didn't need alimony or child - support anymore, so he just disappeared… until the day of the car accident."

"What kind of criminal record does he have? Has he ever been jailed in the past, that you know of?" Jonathan said.

"I heard of one time, before I was born. He got thrown in jail because he was caught with a friend in a Marijuana drug - ring. Thing is though, he pleaded that his friend was mostly responsible and that he, on the other hand had only been _lured_ in to it. So the friend got a ten year prison - sentence and Dad went free." Drake replied, telling all he knew.

"Interesting… Has he ever committed any other court - worthy crimes?" Barlow asked.

"…If murder qualifies." Josh replied at last, in a boldly revolted voice.

Suddenly the eyes of the agents grew interested and they murmured a mixed: "What?-!"

"Well, sir… right before my parents left on their trip, I got a phone call in middle of night. …You both already know about his phone - harassment tendencies, don't you?" Drake began, looking up.

"We do."

"Right—well, this call was his voice, his breathing and the click and dial - tone like always, but the caller I.D. gave an _actual number_, unlike the usual 'Unknown Name' thing. So the next day Josh and I looked up the phone number on the white pages web site and found out who it belonged to." he continued, relating the tale.

"Go on." Becker prodded on.

"Well, my great Uncle died—in fact that's where our parents went; to his funeral. Gentlemen, the number my Dad called from belonged to my great uncle Gavin, and the doctors say he died suddenly around the exact same moment of night."

The law men shook their heads in a gaping amazement and Barlow found words to speak, first: "Was it… a warning to you two?"

"In a way, it was. But mostly, he was ready to do what ever he had to get Drake & I's parents out of state, so he could get to us—and so he _did._" Josh replied slowly, hardly believing all this had happened, too.

"That's so insane…" Drake muttered, to himself. After a moment, he realized it and looked up at the police officers, breaking his own stare at the floor: "Sorry—but I just can't get over it. It seems too crazy to be real."

"Don't apologize. All of these things do sound almost unbelievable." James nodded rationally.

"I know these questions have probably robbed you of a lot of your time and energy, boys, but do you think there is anything else major that could shed any special light on this?"

Becker's words made the boys think hard over the experiences, until Drake finally responded: "Oh my gosh! I know one of the biggest."

"Please, go ahead and tell us." came the words.

"Last night, or—rather early this morning, when it was still dark, he broke in to our house and when I heard him inside and went to go see, he threw me down the staircase."

To one outside of the situation, the way Drake spoke about this would confuse you, and you would think that he had become extremely emotionless and cold—but that was not the case, at all. It was simply that he knew it would be foolish and highly unwise to let himself go with his feelings and become hysterical and inconsolable.

"My God… house - breaking, assault and battery, striking a police officer, murder, harassment… this man is insane. No—more than insane. There's no way that the courts will lean in his favor with all of these charges, so don't you even start to worry about it." Barlow declared, shaking his head in unbelief and prompting Becker to speak, as well.

"Did he _really _throw you down the stairs?"

"Yeah he did! Here, look at the cut from where his forehead hit the spindles." Josh exclaimed in retort, turning to his brother and carefully brushing back his auburn hair with the palm of his hand.

"It's true, then." Becker said, shaking his head, as he glanced up at the bandage: "...It's very puzzling to me as to why a man would do all those things to his own _son_. …Did he _ever _love you?"

At this question, Josh quietly swept Drake's hair back over his forehead and added an understanding pat on his arm before settling back in to his own seat.

"Well… once when I was little, I thought he did. …He didn't, but you know, no little kid wants to face the fact that their Daddy never loved them in the first place—even though they never did anything that should have made him stop loving them. …I know it sounds unreal, but it's true. And I think it's more real for a lot of kids now, than people think it is."

Drake's soft and almost painful speech literally touched the hearts of _all_ who heard it—even the tough FBI agents who saw crime every day of their lives. But it especially touched Josh's heart.

It was extremely hard on him to see his brother in so much mental pain. It was even worse than when he had been in the hospital after the accident, because no matter how bad the psychical pain had been, he could heal over time from that—and from this, Josh wasn't sure if he would heal or not, but he prayed that _over time_ he _would._

Josh knew that Drake had never had the man's love, and he knew that it would always leave a hole in Drake's life, but he also knew that with all that was within him, he was going to try and fill up that void with his own love for his brother. It may not be the love of a real father—he couldn't give that to him except maybe though _his _Dad—but a _deep_ brotherly love that perhaps would over-whelm the emptiness.

Officer Barlow seemed to feel the deep emotions flowing through out the room and he sighed, looking up: "Well, boys, thank you. All your information has helped us immensely. We'll go now and leave you to try and calm down before your parents arrive. As soon as they do, we'll give them a little information and bring them to you."

Snapping from his thoughts with a grateful half - smile, Josh stood with the men and walked to the edge of the room with them: "Thank _you_, officers. We owe our lives to you, literally."

For the first time all day, Officer Becker seemed to momentarily snap from his professional air, winking and saying a quick: "Hey, what can I say? It's what we do." And in a second, he regained his staunch persona, turning and saluting Josh before exiting the room with his colleague.

Josh held on to his light smile until he turned to survey his brother, from across the large, dimly lit room.

He looked absolutely miserable, sitting huddled in his seat against the window, with his legs up in the chair beside him as he stared blindly out past the glass pane, in to the parking lot.

The dark haired boy walked over and sat down right next to him, restraining himself from scooping up his poor, tormented brother in to his arms and squeezing him hard, and instead he looked over and crossed his arms, speaking in a genuine voice: "…What are you thinking about?"

"Ah, I dunno… just stuff." Drake replied tiredly, shaking his head and still staring out the large window, and with a large sigh, going on: "I hope Mom and Dad get here soon."

They should. Then you can _really _rest."

"Yeah… I don't know."

Drake's reply made Josh look up from the floor, and he exclaimed: "Oh, no, come on—you have to rest, bro. You don't want to risk your own health. I mean, the very last thing anybody needs around here is for you to pass out or get sick of exhaustion.

"I… I know. But there's so much to do—and so much stuff to think about. I just have a ton on my mind… too much to sleep." came the reply.

"Well what about food? You haven't had anything all day and it's past five o' clock." Josh asked, frowning in worry and trying to entice his brother in to helping himself, a little.

"Nah, I'm not hungry." he replied with a sigh and pause before he looked over at his brother and laid and hand on his shoulder: "…Thanks for worrying about me, Josh. In a little while I might eat something."

"I hope so, 'cause you do worry me… you're already so beat up that you could pass out, and you're so thin that you can't afford to loose any weight." he sighed.

"I'll be _fine._ Stop worrying." Drake said again, squeezing Josh's shoulder as a sign of assurance and giving him atleast a half - smiling glance with his eyes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was a long while they had alone, and no one came to bother them. They didn't talk much to each other for several minutes, until Drake let out a forced - sounding breath and Josh, being his naturally concerned self, immediately asked: "'You okay?"

"I guess. My back and shoulders hurt though." he said finally, shrugging his shoulders back to relieve his pain a little.

"Really? …What exactly did he do to your back and shoulders?" Josh asked, bending his brow.

"Not really anything, I slipped and fell on it hard, twice when he was… after me."

"Oww, man—you poor guy. …Here, turn around, I'll give you a massage." Josh offered kindly.

For once, Drake _didn't_ refuse his kind proposition and instead, was glad to accept, turning around and trying to calm his tense muscles as much as he could.

Josh carefully tipped him to the side a little, so he could lean against the back of the chair and then he gently began to rub the back of both of his shoulders, at once.

"Gosh… no small wonder that it hurts you, Drake." His amazed almost - whisper came from behind him.

"Why do you say that?" he asked curiously, seriously having no idea why, himself.

"Well, you have totally rock - hard tension in your shoulders! You must have hit that floor _hard_. …And a bruise too."

"Well, I guess I _did_ hit a little harder than I thought. I—I just didn't really think about it until now, because of…"

He didn't finish his sentence, but really he didn't have to—Josh read his mind and knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Hey… don't think about him anymore, okay? He's done a lot of damage to you, but _no body _is going to let that evil man do anything more."

"I think you're right…" Drake sighed again, leaning in to the comforting massage, and looking out the window at the windy trees.

"Well, I _know_ I'm right, so that's _that_. Now is the time to relax as much as you can, and enjoy this massage, not to think about bad things that you couldn't have helped, anyway."

Josh's loving little scold brought a weak, pale smile to Drake's lips for a minute and right then, he did just what his brother has said to; to try and relax. And anyway, Josh was giving him a nice, soft and gentle massage and it was _indeed_ making his neck and back feel better, not to mention what the boy's extra caring attitude was doing for his spirit.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It had been a long while since Josh had finished his thoughtful massage, which had infact soothed Drake almost to sleep, and they both had resumed their spots at window where they'd been sitting before the two policemen had come with the news of the voicemail.

His eyes looked extremely heavy with the need to close and his silky, rich brown hair began to slowly fall toward them. When his bangs finally did wisp in to his chocolate brown eyes, he barely even stirred enough to reach up and brush them back. Finally, after another long bout of staring in to space, he spoke up in a lulled voice: "Man, I feel like somebody put a rock in the middle of my chest."

"…What do you mean?" Josh asked, in confusion.

The quiet, barely - hearable voice went on to explain: "I mean my ribs hurt so bad that it feels just like somebody took a big rock and jammed it…"

"—Shouldn't you go ahead and take some more of that medicine the doctor gave you, then?"

"…No, I can't—" Drake murmured, glancing at his watch with out hardly moving: "Not for a little while, anyway."

"Oh. …Are you okay?" Josh replied, slowly, frowning and trying to figure him out.

"Psychically, I'm tired. But mentally, I'm… messed up." he finally answered, closing his eyes for a minute and laying his chin on the back of his chair.

"How?"

"I just feel like a gigantic black cloud has swallowed me up. That's… the only way I can think of to come close to describing it."

The voice with which the boy said this is what disturbed Josh the most because it was so, so sad.

"…You really depressed, aren't you?" he finally asked back, getting only a weak nod in the form of reply, and a single word:

"Extremely."

"…I am pretty depressed myself." Josh sighed: "But mostly because _you_ are."

"Really?" Drake said, putting forth effort enough to turn to look at him, instead of the soft glow of the window.

"Oh, yeah, totally. But we'll both be feeling better soon."

"…I hope." Drake added, in a tiny voice as he choked back his tears and fell again in to a deep gaze.

Josh knew his brother was beginning to feel the repercussions of the whole ordeal, and even though on the outside he seemed okay, inside he really _wasn't._ He was foggy and confused, and felt as if he needed to cry—but he wouldn't, because he wouldn't let himself be anything less than perfectly stable and strong. That's how he had had to be for so long to go on with his life, and now when he wished he could cry… he couldn't.

At last, after a long while, Josh felt himself hurt for him, and he spoke up in a gentle, quiet voice, reaching over and patting his back softly: "Drake… you _can _cry. I mean, nobody's here—nobody's going to blame you for feeling upset and used up. I'm the only one who's here, and with all of my heart I wish you would let your pain out. I'm here to help you. I'm here to protect you and take care of you and hold you when you're sad… so you can lean on me, and I'm not gonna just let you fall."

For the longest time, neither of them moved or said anything in the stark silence, but finally it came again.

"…You're—you're the best ever." Drake finally exclaimed, turning his tear - filled eyes toward him and nodding gently.

"…No, I'm not… I should have stopped him from hurting you. I… I _could've _stopped him from hurting you, but I guess I was too stupid to realize that such a nightmare could actually be reality…" Josh spoke, shaking his own head at himself in disappointment, but finally looking back up: "But I'm ready to cover up for my shortcomings, now by trying to help you through this thing."

"You don't have anything to cover up for, Josh—" Drake began, laying a soft hand on his brother's shoulder and then continuing on in the most earnest, truthfully honest voice Josh had ever heard him use: "You did _the right thing._ …You _saved me._"

Bringing two big tears to his own blue – grey eyes, Josh looked straight at him and smiled as if he were only trying not to cry out of his own gratitude, and spoke slowly, in the sweetest of tones: "…Thanks—Drake."

The two stared at each other for a moment longer and then instead of grabbing one another in a deep hug like they wanted to, they turned back to look out the window and try to compose themselves, because they knew if they had even embraced for a moment, they would both burst in to unstoppable tears and become virtually inconsolable.

Drake continued to stare out of the window for a long time, watching something in the distance and then suddenly his eyes widened a little and he gripped the back of the chair as his weak voice spoke: "…Their here."

"…What?" Josh exclaimed, scooting up behind Drake to peer out of the tall window.

"Look—there they are…" he replied, finally, grabbing Josh's hand and pressing his brother's finger up against the glass of the pane.

Below them, far across the packed hospital parking lot, both of their parents where walking toward the entrance to the lobby.

For a long time, Josh and Drake watched them make their way toward the building. At first they both looked about the size of little ants from such a distance, but finally as they came closer, the boys could begin to clearly see them.

"Oh my God… I'm so glad their here." Drake whispered in a distraught tone: "I—I almost thought when he had me pinned to the floor that last time, that I'd… never see them again."

Josh rested his gentle hand on his back, keeping his tears back, feeling his brother's pain, and said assuringly: "…It's okay."

"Yeah…" he replied at last, blinking his pending tears back and letting out a deep, throbbing sigh: "It _is._ It's just all so _hard._ …And what am I supposed to say to Mom and Dad? How can I—"

The dark haired boy quickly interrupted him and shook his head, as he rubbed his shoulder: "Hey, look, you don't have to worry about that, 'cause Barlow and Becker are going to give them the headlines before they get here. …I'm sure they're not going to bombard you with useless questions the second they walk in the door, because they'll just be relieved to see you alive—I know I was."

Silence reigned after the two grown adults below disappeared from view and entered the building, and feeling that he had really done all he could for his brother, Josh leaned back in his chair and let him have a while to think in the quiet atmosphere.

Time dragged by so torturously slow that both of the teenagers almost began to wonder if it had actually been somehow stopped. Seconds felt like minutes, and the hands on the clo0ck hanging high on the wall drew so slowly across the face, that Josh could nearly swear that he could have lived an entire lifetime before another minute passed.

Drake felt a drop of anxious perspiration draw a damp line down his pale face and he blew out a breath, realizing how much he needed to just take a deep, slow breath of air. Behind the bland exterior that those tired brown eyes held, lay an even more anxious and tired blur of feverish thoughts.

Thoughts about everything—Josh, Meghan, his parents, his house, his father, court, the doctors, the surgery, the hospital, his great uncle, the police and the newspapers. But… most importantly forefront in all these thoughts was the same question that threatened to drive him mad for repeating so often: "_What about Anita?"_

Josh was just as worried about _him_ as _he_ was about Anita, but he couldn't think of what to do about it, or how to help him. He really didn't realize about how much he had already helped him, and he didn't know that without him, all of this would have been too much for Drake to handle. But he _did _know how much he was willing to do for him, and that was simply that he was going to stand behind him and hold up weight no matter what happened. And though he barely knew the extent of it, Drake remained very thankful to him, and didn't want him to leave his side for a moment.

"Josh—" Drake's quiet, fearful voice cut like a sharp knife through the silence, as he stopped to look up for reassurance.

"What is it, bro?" he responded, returning a kind and genuinely worried little smile.

With a reluctant frown, Drake bit his dry lips and then sighed as his eyes filled with fearing question: "Josh, will…"

A long pause came until a quieter voice found the words to speak.

"Will Mom and Dad… hate me?"

This question made Josh's heart quiver in sympathy for his dear friend and he bent his brow, quickly grabbing his hand and staring at him: "Drake, why in the world would they hate you?"

"…Because, Josh. …It was _my_ fault that great uncle Gavin died—I could have stopped it by just telling Mom and Dad about his calls to me and then the police could have…" he didn't finish his explanatory sentence, and let it trail off in to nothingness until Josh picked it back up.

"Have done _what?_ Unless they were psychic, Drake, they couldn't have anything about that. It was completely out of the blue and nobody expected this."

"Ah, I—I guess you're right." he finally gave up, looking down at the worn converse shoes that an officer had brought him down from his room to wear, before they left the house in the police car.

"Of course, I am. Just sit back and let other people worry about this for you. …I know you're used to doing everything by yourself, but for once, everyone else is going to do it _for you_."

Josh's firm, blunt statement actually put Drake's mind in the right perspective for a long while, and he realized that it was _okay_ to need help, and to take the help that was offered to him.

"I know this probably sounds stupid when I say it, Josh, but it feels almost like it's been… years since I've seen Mom and Dad, and I can hardly wait to see them walk through that door way." he said after a while in a small voice, as he sighed against for what seemed to be the millionth time that day.

"Oh, Drake—" Josh replied in a completely understanding whisper: "That's not stupid _at all. _You've been through a huge trauma, and with Mom and Dad away, it's just _that_ much harder for you to deal."

"Yeah, but it's just '_that'_ much easier for me to deal with you helping me, so I think it's almost even."

In reply to that heartfelt statement from Drake, Josh smiled a little kind smile and nodded, looking up at him with a quiet chuckle: "_Almost._"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back and fourth Drake walked over the laminate tile covered floor only a few feet from the row of chairs along the windows. He hardly knew that he was pacing in such a way, because his mind was apparently focused on something that required greater concentration.

Josh, who was leaning tiredly against a nearby wall smile a worried smile and reached out to grasp his brother's shoulder when he walked within easy reach: "Hey—calm down and stop pacing so much! …You'll wear out the soles of those shoes."

Drake looked up and instantly seemed to snap from his partial daze, shaking his head and speaking quickly: "I'm sorry. I'm just… nervous. –Extremely nervous."

"Well don't be, bro. Mom and Dad are going to want to do nothing but hug you and thank heaven that you're still alive. And you don't have to iron out the details—that's the reason their coming home. _Their_ the adults, and _their_ going to take care of it all for you. 'Kay?"

"O—okay. I know that I just worry a lot. …I'm really sorry." He responded, breathing deeply and standing still for a moment, at last.

"No apologies, Drake, I get it." the dark haired boy said, with a knowing nod and a pat on the shoulder.

With out a moment more of time to "relax", Josh's cell phone suddenly began to ring and once again, after a genuine jump of start from both boys, he reached in to his pocket to retrieve it, at this particular moment feeling that the Oprah ring tone was almost annoying.

Flipping it open quickly to see who it was, Josh sighed and closed his eyes for a second and said in a calm voice: "It's Meg's cell phone."

"W—hat! Meghan? What will we tell her? J—Josh!" Drake exclaimed, spinning around and pressing a hand to his temple in exasperation.

"Shh—I'll handle it." he replied, waving a hand toward him with a convincing nod, as he pulled the phone to his ear and answered it promptly.

"Meghan?"

"What's up, boob." came her sly answer.

"What is it, why did you call?" Josh continued, trying to figure out what he should say to her and meanwhile, what to do to keep Drake from falling to literal pieces.

"Just thought I'd drop you line to see what you two lame - brains did all night by yourselves."

"Look, Megs, stop for a minute—there's been an… _accident_. Drake and I are okay, but—"

"What kind of an accident? Did you wreck the car _again?-! _…Or did one of you just loose your brains?" the snide girl replied, cutting Josh off and spreading her face over with an evil smile.

"No, Meghan—seriously," he began again, running a hand over Drake's shoulder for a second as he walked across the room and stood in the door way, to talk to Meghan in a quiet, sincere voice: "I mean it, there's been a _serious _accident. …Mom and Dad have come home though, so just stay at Charlise's house until somebody comes to get you, alright?"

"Wait. Mom and Dad are coming home? …What, is somebody dead?"

Though serious, Josh let out another sigh at the girl's blunt way of speaking, and answered quietly: "No, Drake and I _are okay._ But just don't freak out."

"… And why would I freak out? …Did somebody burn the house down?" the brunette preteen replied, raising a curious and slightly confused eye brow.

"No! I can't go in to it, but Mom and Dad will take care of everything. I'll talk to you after they meet us up here, okay?"

The irritated and uninformed voice of their sister rang out from the phone: "Up _where?-!"_

"I'll tell you _later_. 'Bye, Megs." Josh replied in final, forceful tone, waiting for her annoyed reply before he hung up.

"Fine! …Bye."

With a click, the two disconnected and replacing his cell to the space in pocket, Josh paused at last to look up, surprised to catch Drake staring right back at him from across the room, with his hands tiredly hooked in his belt.

"…She doesn't care, right?"

"She doesn't _know._" the dark haired teen spoke back, crossing his arms and stepping nearer: "I didn't tell her where we were or why. Just that something had happened and that Mom and Dad were back home a little early."

"Gosh thanks, Josh. This is awesome having you here to help me, I seriously couldn't do it by myself." Drake shook his head with a truly appreciative look in his eyes.

"Hey, you're totally welcome, bro. I mean, after all the stuff you've done for me in the last few years, I feel like it's the least I can possibly do… and anyway, I kinda like helpin' out my brother."

All the sudden, the momentary feeling of near - peace was shattered all at once and the flip phone in Josh's pocket began to go off once _again, _making him sigh deeply and roll his eyes, not bothering to see who it was before answering in a swift tone: "Hello?"

"Josh, its Detective Barlow. …We're planning on taking your parents up to meet you in a moment—is that alright?" the deep voice of the thirty-something year old police man spoke in his ear, lacking in any bit of delay.

"Hang on officer; you can talk straight to Drake." Josh replied back, turning and covering the phone with his hand: "Hey…"

"Who is it?" Drake said, with a single nod as he reached out, ready to get this over with.

"It's Barlow. He says… oh, well, never mind—here, let him tell you himself."

After Josh relinquished the phone to his weak teenage counterpart, he watched him put it to his ear and breathe out an answer: "Officer Barlow?"

"Hey, Drake. Becker and I have both of your parents down here and their _very_ anxious to say hello to you. …Do you think you'd be ready enough to see them in about five minutes?"

"Uh… y-yes, sir, that would be wonderful. I think I can be very ready by then, to see them. T—thank you."

Josh smiled softly at the apparent eagerness that Drake felt for seeing their parents, but at the same time his heart hurt tenderly for him and his hidden fear and nervousness.

Drake felt again Josh's re-assuring hand rest sensitively on his arm and felt butterflies flutter apprehensively around in his stomach at the thoughts of actually having to see his Mom and Dad so soon and to having to tell them so many of the gory details. But… it was okay. It was going to have to be okay, because now, with Barlow's last response, Drake knew they were finally coming: "No problem. Alright, then, Becker and I will see both of you boys in a few minutes. Just relax until we arrive."

As much as he wanted to do that, Drake knew as he let Josh hang up the cell phone for him, that there was no possible way that he could make himself take the advice that had been given him.

"Josh… I feel like I'm going to—to just throw up." He finally said, shivering and pacing one lap along the stretch of chairs.

"You need to sit down?" his brother replied, jumping up from his place and stretching out a hand toward a seat.

"I… dunno. I mean, I won't actually throw up I don't think—I'll be fine—I just _feel_ like it. I have all day long. Maybe… maybe only mostly mentally, though."

"Oh, I know the feeling, then. Just don't focus on everything so hard, you're going to make yourself withdraw. I'm still here with you."

Drake was thankful that he was indeed, and sent up a silent prayer of gratitude for his supportive friend, meanwhile let out an effort - filled smile and dragging a limp hand through his own messy, amber - brown hair, as he collapsed in to a chair beside the other boy.

And again, every moment began to feel a thousand years long for both boys, and both were only awaiting the sight of their parents in that high, arched door way… and what a relieving sight it would be. For the most part, neither of them felt as if they could find words to say what they wanted to, so they remained quiet, close beside each other for about five minutes.

But suddenly Drake remembered something else and he knew that his urge to speak was too great to ignore: "Josh… can I ask you a question? And will you sincerely answer me?"

"Go ahead and shoot, I'll answer anything." he agreed, wondering what the tired brunette wanted to ask him so seriously.

"What kind of surgery are they doing on Anita in there, honestly? Did he stab her… heart? I don't _really _want to think about it, much less ask it, but hardly _anybody_ has told me anything." He slowly responded, as he gulped back lingering emotions and looked back at him with sad eyes.

"I wish I knew any more than you do, brother, because I would like to tell you, but truly I have no idea. It can't be all that bad though, and there are so many professional surgeons here that's I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. She'll be fine." came his also rather un-informed answer.

"I _hope _we all will." Drake added, before a noise of muffled voice and the far away clicking of heels on the hall floor, made him snap his head up and jump out of his seat, standing to full height.

In a gasp he breathed out a quiet and yet totally frightened sentence: "Josh! Josh, Mom and Dad… their here!"

"I know." he nodded, standing up and shrugging back his shoulders to ready himself for this coming meeting.

Drake was so frazzled that looking up at his calm, logical brother made him that much more amazed.

He was beginning to feel genuinely afraid, and wondered if he could take this, but in a single instant, every fear spinning off in his head was momentarily put away, by the gentle protection of his brother.

Leaning close to Drake's ear from behind him, he clutched his shoulder and spoke comfortingly: "But I've got your back on this one, for once."

And before anything more could be said or done by either teenager, the moment which put an end to all anticipation had come, as the two detectives entered the room slowly and nodded: "…Drake, Josh."

Parting and standing aside, they revealed the boys' overly worried parents waiting in the door way: "I believe these visitors would very much enjoy if they could come in and talk to…"

Becker's quiet and un-needed words trailed off quickly as Audrey, Walter, Josh and Drake all rushed forward at once, not wasting any time in meeting.

"Oh my God, Drake! Drake… Drake you're okay…" his mother murmured in to his soft mane of brown locks as she clenched him tightly in her arms.

The feeling quickening through his body at that moment almost made his knees give out, and his heart seemed to suddenly loose a restricting, dark force that had shadowed him before.

"…Mom!"

Before he could do anything about it, the undependable tears rose back in to their place in his eyes and one rolled softly down his cheek, not stopping until it continued down his neck and soaked in to the collar of his shirt. But he didn't care.

Josh and his Dad left both the Mother and son alone for a moment while sharing their own emotional hug, being extraordinarily glad to see each other and at the same time understanding the need for Drake to feel completely secure. After all… his security had been mostly void of existence these past few weeks.

"Woah, I—I'm _so_ happy to see you guys." Drake finally whispered as he pulled back from his mother, wiped his tear stained eyes and let out a wavy chuckle as he stepped quickly over to his step father to capture him in a hug as well.

"Are—_are_ you alright, Drake? I can't believe you could have had all of this happen to you." Audrey whispered, feeling sobs blur out her eyes as he reached up and ran an incredibly thankful hand softly through his tousled hair.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm—I'm fine." he smiled, sniffing more tears back and glad to have both of his parents so near.

Josh watched from a few feet away, with a broad smile pressed across his lips for the first time in a long while. He felt almost even happier for Drake than Drake was for himself. No one actually knew how much pain it caused Josh to see his brother hurt or even emotionally wounded, and now that things were starting to get a little better, he felt nearly more pleased than any of them.

"This man, Detective Barlow told us all about Anita, and… and Joe, and a lot of what happened. …Drake, if he did that to _her, _what did do to you?" Audrey finally asked, taking in a deep breath and shaking her head in amazement and almost fear at the coming answer.

Drake lowered his head and became quiet for a moment at _her_ question. It wasn't that he thought badly of any of them for mentioning it, because he knew very well that it would have to be brought up, but it was more the fact that it hurt to think about.

It didn't hurt because he still had feelings for his father, or even as if his heart was broken because he had come to the unrejectable conclusion that his father didn't love him, for that had happened long ago, during his childhood—but that his peace had been so bitterly disrupted now, and most of all that this man had hurt _Anita _so badly.

Josh instantly sensed his hesitancy, and stepped up closer from his place in the back, and surely as soon as the boy ahead realized he was still there, he seemed to loose the majority of his reluctance and began to speak, again.

"He really didn't do much of anything to me. Yeah, sure, I'm a little banged up—my ribs are bruised and I've got some muscle pain here and there. …And we did fight, but… let's just say that this guy certainly came to my rescue."

Josh's faded smile returned again and joyful tears gleamed in his bluish - pale eyes as his brother extended a hand to indicate him, and then rested it for once on _his_ shoulder, drawing him closer to his side and giving him a soft nod.

One of the two police officers that were left standing in the door way spoke up and made Audrey and Walter turn to talk to them, but what they said, neither of the boys heard nor really cared about. Especially not Josh. …He had done everything for the other boy with out expecting any reward, and yet this time, alone was a reward to him.

Leaning in to Josh and speaking with a sweet voice just over a loud whisper, Drake smiled indebtedly back at him and felt happiness and near peace enter his tired heart too, along with the warm words he spoke: "…I love you, Josh. Seriously, I do. …You're the best brother I could ever have, and so just… thanks for being _you._"


	32. This is Our Time

**Summary: **

_Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital because of Josh; a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revenge, perhaps even murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart because of old heartbreaks. Read and review it!_

**Disclaimer: **

_Drake and Josh ain't mine._

**Note to Readers: **

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "This Is Our Time"; Thirty - Two _

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Grammy, hey there, it's Josh."

Josh was on his cell phone, at the moment, as his parents and Drake were talking to the police on the other side of the waiting room.

Neither of the very busy parents had requested this of him, but for some odd reason he'd started to think more like an adult than like his usual teenage self.

"Joshie! How's my little grandson, heh?" the excited and loving voice replied over the phone, making Josh's heart sink at the thought of having to tell her what had occurred.

"I'm… I'm good."

"…Joshie, what's the matter?"

Being truly startled by her immensely perceptive comment, the teenager sputtered out a quick response and returned her with a question of his own: "W—what do you mean?"

"Ya' voice, Joshie! Did Drake hide all of ya' shoes _again, _or somethin'?"she asked bluntly but out of genuine curiosity, unlike Meghan, earlier.

"Oh no, no, Grammy—Drake didn't do anything to me." he quickly answered, with a little smile peeking out on the edge of his lips, at her ways.

"Wha'd he do?"

"_Nothing!" _Josh persisted, shaking his head and sighing a deep sigh, as his amused smile faded away again.

"Then what is it? Ya' sound like ya' did when Sheldon passed on."

"… I'm sorry, Grams. I know I must sound upset. But that's only because Drake—well, he sort of had something happen to him."

Hearing the deep and strangely sincere worry in her grandson's words suddenly made Grammy drop her smile and she went on with a voice absent of her usual harsh and comedic nature: "Oh no, Joshie. …What's all this about?"

"His… his real Dad kind of… came back."

May it was because of the exhaustion, or maybe it was because of the stress of feeling for his hurt brother, but the boy's honest answer lacked any of his normal optimism or padding, and at this point he hardly even realize what he was saying.

"What do you mean '…came back'?"

"He—" all at once, Josh lost all reluctance and escaped by himself in to the hall just out side of the waiting room, telling his Grandmother anything and everything that had gone on, with words that rushed so fast that she could barely understand him.

"Oh, Grammy, it's been horrible for him. Right after the accident, his crazy psycho Dad popped up and started stalking him. I knew about it—I knew the whole time. I knew about when he would call Drake and harass him and everything—I didn't know who it was, but I knew that it was happening. I should have stopped him—I should have done something about it, or at least told somebody. …But I didn't. His Dad attacked his girlfriend and now… we're at the hospital with her."

Pausing only to breathe, he went on.

"After he stabbed her, she managed to get back to our house to warn us of him, but he came sooner than we expected. We called the police, but his Dad started beating on the door, and then Drake told me to go wait for the police outside while he held him off."

"Oh dear Lord, Josh, are you two okay? Are you're parents back from that funeral—and do they know about all of this?" she exclaimed, deep panic laced in her words.

"Yes, their back… but how did you know about that?"

"They called me to let me know that they were leaving, a couple days ago. …Josh, is this girl _alive?"_ Grammy spoke, quietly.

"Yeah, but barely. I don't much about it, really—nobody will tell us anything except that she's in surgery." That was all that could say, because honestly he knew nothing else.

"And Drake—how about him?"

It was a long pause before Josh found the words to speak about his brother.

"He's brave." he sighed, going on: "He has got to be the bravest, sweetest guy ever. His Dad used his one call earlier in jail to call _Drake's_ cell and leave a message, and after all he did, he was so syrupy sweet on the message and all—ugh, it was just—just repulsive! Drake got beat up pretty bad in a scuffle with his 'Dad', though. Gosh, Grammy, it makes me feel so bad for him. His ribs are all bruised up and he's hurt… and it's worse than he lets on. He's just not the kind of person to whine or complain to anybody about anything, even if it's really bad. I wish… I wish I could be like him, that way."

A sound in the background made Josh turn around, and he almost jumped in start at meeting glances with his brother, standing directly behind him.

A hot blush of slight embarrassment spread his face, but mostly, he was glad that Drake had over heard him. He truly could never had told him that straight to his face—he would have felt too stupid—and it was almost a relief to let him know what he actually thought.

"Uh… Grammy, what I called to ask you was—Meghan is staying at her friend Charlise's house, and if it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you go and pick her up and maybe keep her for a night? Mom and Dad just have so much stress already, that I thought it would make it easier for everybo—"

With out a moment of hesitation, the kind voice on the other end replied: "I gotcha', Joshie. I'll get right over there-- I've taken Meghan to little Charlise's house before, I should be able to find it easily. Does your sister know anything about what has happened?"

"Not really. Nothing except that there's been an 'accident' of some kind." Josh nodded.

"Okay, then. I'll call you and your parents as soon as I pick up Meghan and head back to my house. ...Take care, sweetie."

"You too, Grammy. …Goodbye."

Josh snapped his cell phone closed and heaved an ample sigh of relief, before turning and sheepishly looking back up at Drake: "I… I, um…"

A quiet and reply came from the lips of the smiling boy a few feet away as he shook his head: "You know, you're really sweet, Josh. …I just wish that all of those things you said about me were true."

"But," Josh exclaimed swiftly and adamantly: "But they are!"

Then he settled back and went on: "I wouldn't just… say it to Grammy for no reason at all."

"I think _you're_ the only one who's brave, brother. And maybe that's the only reason I'm the least bit brave _at all."_ the lighter - haired boy said, throwing his arm around his brother and grabbing him in a soft hug before they both walked back in to the room behind them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Grammy, could you PLEASE tell me what is going on here?" Meghan finally demanded, after being picked up from her friend's house mysteriously by her grandmother, and as she now sat in the front passenger seat, with her arms crossed.

It wasn't at all that the girl wasn't glad to see the kind lady because as a matter of fact, she liked Grammy a whole lot more than most would think she could like anyone, but after talking to Josh and hearing what he had to say (so vaguely) on the phone a while earlier, she was _extremely_ curious about what had all gone on.

She was tempted as they drove along, to pick up her cell phone and call her brothers back again until they revealed _something_ to her! But no-- she had decided wisely against it.

"Are you really sure you want to know what it is, Meghan? It's not very nice to think about, actually." came the first reply.

"Well, I'll put it this way… Grammy, if you _don't _tell me what has happened today, I'll personally have to pick up the phone and call Josh and—"

"Okay, okay!" the older woman interrupted, finally going on in her soft Brooklyn accent: "Megs, lemme ask you somethin'. …Do you remember your father at all?"

A very deep frown crossed the girl's face and tightening the knot she had her arms folded in, she stared back up without even so much as a blink: "What about him?"

"You do remember him, then?"

"Of course, I do. I was already seven years old when Mom left him. I was gone all day at school and soccer and oboe practice, but I still remember trying to sleep when he would be downstairs, doing—ugh, anyway what? What about him?" Meghan shook her head in hatred and glared in to the air in front of her as if she could see his face right there.

"He… came back. Or that's what Joshie told me." Grammy spoke, not even finishing as she drove down the road before an outraged Meghan hit the dash - board furiously with one hand and exclaimed her _own_ sentence.

"What?-!" she roared, "So _that's_ what this is all about! It's all about that stupid—"

"He has been stalking Drake for several weeks as your other brother told me, and he… apparently killed you're great uncle Gavin. He meant to kill either one of your brothers, but the only one who got seriously injured was Anita. She's in some kind of surgery now, at St. Schneider's. And _that _is where ya' parents and Drake and Josh are." Grammy hated being so direct and plain with anyone (very like her own grandson), but she knew that Meghan wasn't one to stand for beating around the bush and that it would be better just to tell her this way.

The deep brunette girl's dark eyes grew large in shock and anger, and her mouth fell open, while everything remained quiet until she finally managed to say: "_He killed _great uncle Gavin? He came after Drake and Josh, _and_ he put Anita in the hospital_?"_

"I'm afraid so."

"Drake. …He went after _him._ Well, of course he would—that makes perfect sense." Meghan was almost too calm as she sighed darkly and sat back in to her seat in the car.

"Why does it?" Grammy only half knew why and was interested as to what the little girl's inside view had to offer.

"Because…" she began, looking toward her Grandmother as they pulled in to her big neighborhood: "He pretended to like _me._ But with Drake… he hated him. He's always despised Drake—as long as I can remember. He was Dad's main target—and they hated each other _so_ much. But Drake was the only one who had a right reason. He knew what Dad was: a lying, crazy abuser. And that was one thing he couldn't ever stand. Dad wanted a son that would manipulate and love evil like he did, but when he realized Drake was too good to be like him, he made up his mind to hate him for the rest of his life."

"…Are you shocked?" Grammy returned finally, breaking up Meghan's out - loud thoughts, and wondering what she was feeling.

"No. Not really. I mean I'm sorry that this all happened, and I'm really worried about Anita, but I always _knew_ he'd end up doing something crazy like this. It's really horrible. Just… horrible."

She looked very pale and unusually serious as her step brother's Grammy tugged hard on the parking break and the steel - gray Cadillac pulled to a halt in the newly - paved drive way of her home.

In a moment, Meghan got out and walked round the corner of the car and lifted the trunk - door, to pull her suitcase and back - pack from inside, shaking her head one last time in disgust and tough infuriation at the very gall of her so called 'father', before going back up the drive and entering the house with the older woman.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mindy Crenshaw tapped the steering wheel of her silver convertible to the music playing on the radio.

The dark gray clouds that had been hanging over head, threatening the possibility of rain, had suddenly parted and a yellow streak of blinding, warm sunlight came blazing down.

And as the wind lightly blew her strawberry - brown hair back with a _whoosh! _Mindy honestly could not find one single fault with this late - afternoon.

Except…

Josh nor Drake, and not even little Meghan had answered the phone that morning. I say morning, because when she had called the house, that's what time it had been. (Though of course, she had no way of possibly knowing that the phone lines just out side of their house had been cut off, just before dawn.)

Josh _always_ answered the home phone when he was nearby. And even Drake hardly ever let it ring more than five or six times. That part worried her a little, but not enough to prompt her to think of calling Josh's cell phone.

After all, she just had to drop off a file folder for the English project that she and her boyfriend had been assigned, and even if their parents had come back home a few hours early or something, she could just drop the papers off, give her Josh a little hello and then be on her merry way until she saw him on their date the next day.

When she rounded the corner and made her next turn, to get in the drive way, she suddenly slammed on brakes and sat staring in confusion.

Two police cars where parked end - to - end in the narrow path to the garage, and several others spilled over in to the grass of the front lawn and the asphalt road before the house, itself. There was even a local cable news van parked in the far corner of the shady lot.

Alarm was (naturally) racing through her mind, as two policemen turned and caught sight of her, departing from the crowd of more officers, detectives and a few interested neighbors to come attend to her as she exited her car.

"Excuse me, m'am, can I help you with anythin'?" the southern drawl laced in this man's Texan - type voice was slow and kind as Mindy tried to recover from the paralyzing shock.

"Please—please tell me what has gone on here!" she spat out, confused and worried.

"I don't think I can really do anything like that, M'am. You see, this whole thing here is kind'a classified."

Before the teenager could speak to explain who she was, the other policeman reached them and asked in a very cocky tone: "What's the problem here, Missy?"

"I—I… nothing! I mean—something. What—what has happened here?"

"Go on and get out of here. We don't need any annoying girls like _you_ screwing up everything." he returned.

"_What is going on?"_ Mindy pressed on, pretending to not care about how mean and blatantly nasty he had been.

"I don't think that's any business of _yours!"_

Taken aback by he swaggering, rude response from the officer, Mindy bit her lip and stepped back two steps before exclaiming: "Listen here—I'm Josh Nichols' girlfriend, Mindy Crenshaw! I have no idea why the police are at my boyfriend's family's house, and all I ask is that some _kind_ person would inform me!"

The other kinder, Texan officer's face instantly lit up in recognition at the mention of her name—Mindy Crenshaw.

Turning and holding a restraining hand in front of the other man, he exclaimed: "Woah, woah, now—this gal really _is _his girlfriend. Josh Nichols is the dark haired brother of that Drake—the one who this whole thing's about."

"Oh…" muttered the man (along with some other select words) dressed in dark police garb, turning and walking off, apparently not wanting to admit he was wrong.

Mindy resented the fact that he didn't even attempt to apologize, but then realized that once the friction had been resolved, he had become disinterested and gone to find some other kind of chaos.

"Miss Crenshaw, please excuse him, m'am. He's just temperamental."

"Please, officer, what happened? Who's hurt?" she nodded, frantic and just barely restraining herself from rushing up to the house and throwing open the door to call Josh's name as loud as she could.

"Parker's real Dad went crazy and half - killed his girlfriend. Almost killed him too, and beat him up pretty bad, I heard. The little girl, his sister—"

"Meghan?" Mindy cut in, with big eyes.

"Yeah—she wasn't here. 'At a friend's house or somethin'."

As she looked up at the strong, almost handsome southerner, she could barely force her frightened question off of her tongue: "What about Josh Nichols? Is he… hurt?"

After a momentary pause and a look up at the sky as if he was trying to remember something very hard, the official shook his head and replied: "Naw, that one is okay. He and his brother went on up to that hospital, but just to be there for the girlfriend. She's in some kind'a surgery or somethin'—at least, that's what I heard one of the detectives sayin', over there."

Mindy's hard-pressed breathing broke and she felt her whole body relax in thankful gratitude: "At St. Schneider's hospital? Or—"

"Yeah, that's the one. You go on up there and tell that Detective Becker or Barlow who ya' are—then they'll let you in to see those two, for sure. If you want, you can tell them that Officer Richard Tucker sent ya'—that's me."

Smiling a still - shocked but very thankful smile, Mindy sighed and said: "Thank you so _very_ much, Mister Tucker."

With that, she turned and rushed quicker than ever back to her car and left the Texan cop to himself, so she could find Josh and his brother as fast as possible.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Drake and his brother were sitting amid their parents and even more detectives, sergeants and police officers (nearly a whole room packed full of them), responding to each question that was thrown toward them, though many were rather painful to have to remember.

Drake struggled to answer what was asked of him with a logical response, but it was becoming very difficult for him. Maybe it was the pain flaring up in his ribs, or the lack of good sleep, or the anticipation and anxiousness for Anita to come out of surgery, but he was having to focus all the rest of his sanity and strength on just existing… making questions even almost impossible to answer.

The things the officers were questioning him on were quite various and ranged from Drake's past with the man, to the criminals drug history, to what exactly had happened that day.

...And then came the things that they asked Josh.

His little 'session' with the police was (of course) shorter than Drake's, on account that before the car accident, he had literally _no_ insight on his real father at all.

But no matter what they asked, Josh was ready to supply the best answer he could, because he knew that the more information the law enforcement had against Joe Parker, the easier it would be to keep him in jail.

That is, he was ready to supply an answer, until one officer began to get a little too inquisitive with his sudden, foolish question.

"As far as you know, has Drake your brother ever been under the influence of any type of drug—in the past or present?"

Drake's blank stare at the floor suddenly shattered and his eyes darted up in apparent shock, first to the face of the policeman and then to that of his brother Josh.

"…I'm sorry, excuse me?" Josh asked, frowning deeply and seeming to sit taller in his seat.

"Well, you said yourself that his father was involved with illegal drugs, and it's pretty natural to assume that…" the officer's arrogant sentence trailed off slowly, at the end.

Josh's parents had been talking to another officer in a corner, and had not heard the man's question, but at the tone of Josh's deep voice and the following silence, they began to wonder what had been said.

"_Has he? _You heard me." the man raised an eyebrow and looked straight back at him, pressing the question even further.

Resisting a deep growl and squaring his broad shoulders, he stared back as well, and spoke in a slow voice that was as firm as an army general.

"Sir, I don't think that you will _ever _ask such a thing in reference to my brother. It was my belief that the job of the police was to protect the victims of criminals, not accuse them of non-sense. _I've_ seen him harassed by that man day and night until he was nearly out of his mind. So let's keep our criminal lists straight, shall we? As for you question, well… I think that's closed."

Those who knew Josh hardly ever saw the rough side of him, and some didn't even hardly know that it existed, but now with such a flat and cold way he had spoken to a possibly threatening police officer, they saw it. They couldn't _help_ but see it.

"…I—I ap—apologize if I—" the stuttering and ignorant reply of the opposing young man again faded out as Drake himself reached out and took Josh's arm, sitting him back in to his chair, with the soft murmur of his name.

"…Josh."

The light eyed teenager then let down his guard a little bit, realizing that now there was no point in addressing the matter any further and that Drake felt alright about it.

The quizzing went on for a little while longer (if not very successfully, either), until Josh's cell phone began to buzz in his pocket.

(By this time, he had already changed the ring to 'vibrate' a while ago, not intending to let his Oprah ringtone blare out loud in front of all those tough police officers.)

He knew who the caller must be, remembering his Grammy's promise to call either before or after Meghan got picked up. So he quickly answered, still heated from the man's comments about Drake and anxious to escape these annoying questions, about _everything._

"Grammy, is that you?"

It was the boy's intentions to say this out loud, so that even his parents could hear and then, with disruption, perhaps it would bring the end to this assembly.

"Yes, Joshie, it's me."

"Oh, good—I'm glad it's you. Did you get Meghan yet?"

"Josh—" his mother instantly spoke, hurrying a few steps over to him: "Your Grammy picked Meghan up?"

Letting a little smile slip to the edge of his lips, he spoke quickly in to the thin phone, "Hold on a minute, Grams," and then turned back to Audrey, covering the receiver with a finger as he replied back: "Yeah, Mom—don't worry about it. I called her and fixed it all up. She said she was happy to help."

"Oh, goodness, do let me talk to her, Josh." she exclaimed, reaching out and taking the cell that was handed to her.

"Hello?"

"Audrey, is that you?" the woman's voice spoke.

"Yes it is! Oh my goodness, I can't thank you enough for doing this—for keeping Meghan, I mean. If it is imposing on you in _any_ way, she could come home and just—"

Oh, nonsense! She's staying with me. And we're going to have a wonderful time too. Besides the fact, you have enough to deal with—Drake, mainly. Is… he doing okay?" Grammy had cut her off with a forceful tone, but slowly softened her way of speaking as she neared the end of her sentence, with the thought of Drake.

"We really—" Audrey began, walking with Josh out in to the hall, leaving her husband with Drake and the police: "Really haven't gotten any time to find out how he is, with all of those… well, kind of _annoying _policemen around. I just wish they didn't have to bother him. From the answer that he gives to them about what happened, he's been through a major ordeal… and he _has _to be tired."

"Ah, I see. Audrey dear, I was planning on dropping over with Meghan for a minute—she's been begging and begging to come to the hospital—but… well, I certainly won't if Drake is too worn out. After all, he's had it quite hard enough lately without his little sister and an old lady like me there to bother him."

Suddenly a hand slid the phone from Audrey's grasp and a soft voice spoke in to it: "Grammy, you're not old."

Apparently, the police had finished trying to make a go of the rest of the question session with only Walter and his step son remaining in the room and let them out, because it was Drake himself that had heard his brother's Grandmother speak faintly over the phone and had taken the conversation over, as the officers filed out from the room, behind.

"Oh, Drake." she began, seeming to be extremely glad to hear his voice sounding so near - stable, "You sound well. How are you, sweetheart?"

"Much better, since your Grandson has been helping me. He has very good nursing skills." the way he spoke was still very serious, even though it didn't at all lack the signature playfulness that his step – Grandma was used to, coming from him.

"Joshie is sweet like that. …I was just telling your mother that Meghan has been insisting on me taking her up there to see you two."

"Oh, really?" his question was more just filler conversation, so he could have a little time to figure out why Meghan should want to come.

"Yes, really. Would you be too tired for me to bring her to see you and your parents?" she questioned in return, kindly.

"Oh, no. Go ahead and bring her. It would be nice to see you and… anyway, if I have something to do, maybe I won't think about things so much."

Grammy and all the rest who had heard his sentence knew exactly what the 'things' where, though he made no mention of it; it was a mixture of thoughts about Anita and his father, but really most about _her._

"Alright, Drake. …If you're _very_ sure." Grammy returned a minute later, after thinking about it.

"I am. I love you Grammy. Here's Mom again—and… sorry for interrupting your conversation with her." Drake meekly handed the cell phone back to his mother as she rubbed his back for a second with a smile, before she resumed her talk.

After a moment, the dark haired teen looked up at the other boy, standing a few feet away and suddenly moved closer, taking his arm.

When Josh had looked at him, he had had his hand to the side of his head and his eyes were closed. He looked extremely tired and for a split second, as if he were almost too weak to stand up. So his brother had rushed quickly over to him (somehow succeeding to not cause a scene), and catch up his arm, to lead him off toward the elevator at the end of the hall.

With a whisper, he added a concerned smile and spoke: "Come on, you've got to eat something."

Josh's Dad caught sight of them as they started down the hall, and began to speak up, but Josh turned and with only a little knowing wink, calmed his questions.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Drake didn't eat _much _once they got down to the cafeteria, but to his brother (who was very worried, along with the doctors that Drake might collapse from all of the stress on his body), it was just as reassuring as if he had eaten an entire feast.

Drake had to admit, too, that eating actually did make it easier to stay alert, and it made him feel much stronger (even if it was just a measly sandwich and a bag of potato chips).

And besides the food, it was a good enough thing to get out of that waiting room, because for both boys, it had become to feel a lot like being locked up in a cage.

Now that Drake was out in the open, he realized that it had grown dark outside and the September sky had faded out, and when he looked down at his wrist watch, he was surprised to see that it was almost seven – forty five.

"Man, Josh, she's been in surgery for _four_ hours. Almost five. That's so long…"

It only took Josh a moment to figure out that 'she' was Anita, and that by the voice his brother was using now, Drake was beginning to get genuinely worried and down trodden.

"That might be longer than you would like, Drake, but for a surgery, that's not all so very long. I once knew a girl in school who had a surgery on her spine that was just over eight hours long. So don't worry, Anita will be out in no time."

Drake _was_ truly listening to Josh, but because his mind was filled so much with things to be anxious about, that mostly all he heard was the last part about Anita coming out soon.

"Thanks for the support, Josh," Drake spoke, with a little sigh as he poked at the remainder of his sandwich and went on: "I… I wonder if anybody knows about what happened. …I mean, like—our friends."

Josh was caught off guard for moment and sat in silence, because honestly until now, he hadn't even thought about that.

"Well, gee, bro—" he finally replied quietly: "You know how fast word carries around Belleview High. I wouldn't doubt if they all were just now finding out."

And almost as if written up in a play, at that queue in the conversation, Drake's phone rung on the table, beside his Styrofoam plate.

At first ring, Drake jumped, instinctively assuming that it was only another harassing call, but suddenly the calming thought hit him like a bolt of lightning that he wouldn't be getting any more of those. So with a fearless manner, he reached out and flipped it quickly open, with a:

"H'llo?"

"Oh my GOWSH, DWAKE! I—I—I—OH-H-HH! How howwible! How howwible!"

The lispy, recognizable voice of Lyn shrieked over the speaker.

Drake flinched visibly at it, even though he knew it would only be a matter of time until she found out and threw her hysterical self at him, again.

"Lyn… hi."

"OH, MY, GOSH, DWAKE! You're HUWT, _aren't you?-!"_ she cried, in a tone so hysterical and shrill that anyone who had heard her and not known her would have quite possibly assumed that she had seen her parents shot to death, or something as traumatic as the like.

Looking up at Josh (who wore an amused smile) for a moment, he then answered: "N—no… I'm fine. I'm not the one. Some one must have told you about what my father has done to Anita? She's—"

Before he could finish what he meant to say, she cut in and quieted her yell to a murmur: "Is she _dead yet?"_

Suddenly, Drake understood something. With such a hatred filled statement as the girl had just made, it was as if something before unsettled in his mind, clicked at once and he gasped: "_YOU_ made that rumor up about my brother Josh and Anita, didn't you?-!"

As fast as he had spoken it, all the hysterical and fake drama fell from her tone and instead came voice that was one deathly afraid of him: "—How—wha—how did you know?"

Whether he was ignoring her question, or if he simply hadn't heard it, Josh couldn't tell, but _he_ could hear every word exchanged next, from across the table.

"_Who_ put you up to that?" and in a deeper growl, Drake went on: "…_Who_ told you to tell me those lies?"

"I… I don't—know." She stuttered, quieter, so much so that the hazel eyed teen had to strain to hear.

"_Yes, you do. _Tell me, _now."_

"Alwight! Alwight," her plea followed: "Some guy named Joe cawled me! He towld me he was Anitaw's old boyfwiend and asked if I would hewlp pway a little twick on you. …I thought I could get you back from that _girl…_"

"That's it! That's all I want to hear! Listen and _listen very carefully,"_ Drake finally exclaimed in a tone so forceful that Josh was almost gaping in shock as he finished: "You have done Anita and I a lot of harm—'Joe' who called you was my **_father_**, and you made yourself stupid and repulsive, by helping him. You can blame yourself for aiding the stabbing he gave Anita. So I don't want you _ever_ calling me again, you hear me? Never!"

Anyone would expect a normal teenage girl to be in tears of remission and apology after such a truthful and crushing exclamation from him, but the reactions given by Lyn were radically… different.

Oh, not to say that she didn't cry. She _cried _and cried plenty, but not for him, or Anita and not even for any guilt of what she did. But the only reason she was crying was for her own distorted, twisted self. _She_ was angry at him for calling her on her selfishness; _she_ was hurt because _'that girl' _took him away from _her_, and _she_ was wallowing in miserable pity for herself, on account of all of it.

So, right then, in perhaps the evilest of all thoughts (of those except Drake's father) that day, she wished more than anything that Anita would _die._ She might have even prayed for her to die, because she wished it so badly, but if she did no one ever knew of it. …Atleast, no one admitted it.

After a most uncomfortable silence, she finally exploded.

"Fine!" she rang out, in a sentence full of spoiled and selfish contempt: "See if I care! I _don't _care what happens! To ANY of you!"

And for a few seconds before she hung up, Drake and Josh wondered if it had been imagined, or if for a moment she had actually lost her irritating lisp.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The boys finished eating in the cafeteria and decided reluctantly to head back to the monotonous room up a few floors. They linked arms and sighed as they passed through the large archway, heaving a genuine sigh and walking down a long hall, toward the elevator.

Josh let go of Drake's arm and stepped forward to push the 'up' button on the chrome plaque mounted beside the metal doors.

He stepped back and expected atleast one of them to open, but none did.

"Aw, man, people must be using them right now," he mumbled: "We'll have to wait for one."

And so they did. Before long, as the taller, darker haired teenager had predicted, a single ringing noise sounded and the doors of the middle elevator slowly slid open.

The two brothers were, of course, very tired and so while they had been staring at the floor, they hadn't even looked up when they stepped inside—until a sudden, _very_ familiar voice made them snap to attention.

"Josh!"

As the cold steel doors close behind the three in the tiny space, Josh glanced ahead and gasped in return, then speaking quickly to who had spoken to him.

"Mindy! Mindy wha—what are you doing here?"

The slender girl promptly hugged him in a swift (but highly thankful) embrace and stepped backward: "I came because of you—I mean, because of what happened to _you!"_

Drake stood over in the corner, surveying these activities in quite less excitement than of those who he was watching—he was already having a good enough bout with out Mindy added in to the mix.

And 'what happened to _Josh'? _Ha! It was _just_ like her to think it all had happened to _Josh!_

"_No bit of sympathy thrown my way, eh?" _Drake thought in the very grouchiest of ways, as he looked on at Mindy.

But then, he suddenly shrunk back in humbled humility as Josh spoke up in genuine protest: "It didn't happen to _me, _Mindy. I'm just counting my blessing of Drake still being alive and well, with us."

"M—Mindy… it was very nice of you to come see us." Drake finally managed after a little quiet, putting fourth enough true effort to give her a thanking, kind smile.

"Oh, no it wasn't! I did it purely for selfish reasons—I was seriously worried about both of you. And _that's…_ why I'm here in this elevator right now." She sighed, laying a hand on Josh's arm: "Josh, _how are you guys?"_

"Nothing's wrong with _me_, (especially now that you're here) and Mom and Dad are just in from their travel and they seem to be taking it all quite well. Meghan and Grammy are coming up to see us in a few minutes, so Megs must be okay. But _this guy,"_ he turned to look at his brother: "He's worse off than he'll let himself believe."

"I'm okay though," Drake replied as, at last, the elevator reached their desired floor (for it was a very slow moving hospital elevator), and he went on to finish: "But I guess in that way, we're _all _better off than Anita…"

His speaking trailed off in to a sigh and Mindy and Josh felt very sorry for his anxiety, trading comforting smiles and nods to him before they departed in to the hall way together and started down to the waiting room.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When they finally got there, their plans of sitting down and resting were immediately tossed aside, because everyone who had been tired and slow, sitting and discussing in that room before, were now gathering their things from the table and rushing around, as if readying to leave for somewhere.

The three young people were very confused to say the least and walking up to his mother to barely grab her arm, Drake spoke in urging question: "What's going on? What is all the rush about?"

"Anita—" she only said, hardly even finishing her sentence before darting off with the police: "—She's out."

Only a moment of time did it take for Josh and his brother to figure out what she meant, and even Mindy realized it quickly: Anita must at last be out of her operation.

Suddenly, Drake's thoughts began swirling in his head like an electric current when one flips a power switch.

_Was she now conscious? Would he be able to talk to her when he saw her for the first time? If so, what would he possibly say to make her realize how sorry he was about this whole big incident?_

Josh knew that the boy should have atleast some time to think, but now was not the right time, with everyone leaving, unless the trio wanted to get left behind and become hopelessly lost.

So gently tapping his shoulder, he reached down and caught his hand, stepping forward and dragging him gently behind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The very large crowd of people (Drake and Josh, their parents, Mindy, Detective Barlow, Becker, and many more policemen) packed thickly in to all three elevators in the hall and went up ward several, several floors.

Infact, I think it was such a number of floors that Drake himself honestly didn't even know what floor they were on now, when they desired one and stepped out.

Instead of walking all the way down the huge blankly white hall that lay before them, they went only half way down it and turned for a moment to the right so a single knock could be given on the door that stood there ahead, and they all stood waiting for a minute until it opened.

It was the same serious yet soothing young face of Doctor Thorton, the doctor who had tended to Drake earlier, that appeared in the door way and let out a kind smile when he saw him among the large gathering: "Hello gentlemen—ladies. I'm guessing that you've all come after getting word of the end of Miss Prescott's operation?"

"You're very perceptive, Dr. Thorton—and very correct in your guesses, too. Please go to Doctor Reilly and request for us time to see him and perhaps, (if he thinks it wise), the girl." Detective Becker spoke up, of the emergency surgeon, coming to the front of this large group and nodding a greeting as professional and sleek as his own FBI badge.

"Of course. Certainly, I'll be on my way this moment. If only your assembly, here, would take a little rest in the Doctors' lounge while I do?" the twenty-something year old physician asked in return, hospitably waving an inviting hand toward the door from which he'd stepped.

Drake sighed a breath of thankful relief at the very mention of a place to 'rest', but his glad and contented thought was quickly crushed with Becker's pert answer: "No thank you, Thorton—" looking about the bunch as he finished, "I think that none of us need much of a rest. We'll simply wait here in the hall."

Drake resented the man's rather obvious lack of worry about his well being and the kind Thorton was very taken aback at it, himself, but found the words (somehow) to speak up in an extremely awkward voice: "Ah, yes, well… I supposed I ought to be getting over to the Doctor to speak to him, then. I'll be back in a second."

As he turned on his heel and quickly made his exit to arrange the meetings and strode away, Drake watched longingly after him and wished very adamantly that he had such a good excuse as that to escape this overly businesslike federal agent.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Again, it was beginning to seem like a literal eternity before anything at all had happened in the hall.

Drake and Josh were very tired and were standing together, quietly leaning against the wall.

No one had anything to say, so the wait for the doctors was very uncomfortable—both in psychical weariness and in the rigid silence that had taken over.

Poor Drake took up his own quiet time by staring longingly past his dark - haired counterpart, at the warm looking door way of the lounge, seeming to be calling to him. It was only now when the comfort of a seat and a place to sit down was being deprived of him, that he actually _wanted_ to sit.

Mindy was standing a little bit in the middle of the crowd, near Drake & Josh, and was watching down the hall for any sign of those they were waiting on.

Josh's thoughts, however, were focused on his brother, for the moment. He was seriously struggling with a growing dislike of the main detective on the case, Detective Becker—and even a growing dislike of really, the entire police force.

The thing earlier about trying to pin Drake with drugs made him angry enough, but now that Becker had the audacity to make the poor, tired teenager stand in a hallway, and decline him even a place to sit—well, to say the least, Josh was getting quite a bit irritated with the FBI and everyone else in charge of this business.

Infact… the more he thought about it, the more he saw how wrong that their having to wait here really was. And the more he reckoned with himself, the more he seemed to decide to speak up (in a very heated way) about it.

"_Why aren't Mom and Dad saying something?-!"_ he exclaimed to himself in his head, beginning to get dangerously carried away his frustration, as one tends to do sometimes, when they haven't had much sleep and are under a lot of strain.

"_They should **know** how much he has been going through!"_

The thoughts continued to flow through his had, until at last, he could contain himself no more.

Perhaps it would have been better for everyone if he had only kept to himself and remained silent, but as it was, he lost all control of his tongue and turned suddenly, looking straight up at Becker and blurting out the most horrible thing he could come up with.

"Well, why don't you just go buddy up with Drake's Dad, in prison? You obviously don't give a hang about what is going to happen to him, either!"

This was one of those times when you say something so suddenly that you begin to wonder if it was actually _you_ who had said it: and when you realize it _was_ you, you are instantly seized with the urge to run away out of shame.

His parents were apparently very shocked by his outburst, (along with Mindy and most of all, Drake), but no one said a word, only waited to see what the other man's reaction would be.

Becker's response was almost as unexpected as Josh's sentence had been, but even stranger was the fact that for a long time, he said nothing, but only stared back in to Josh's face with look a Federal agent alone could possess, not blinking and not moving.

But when he did finally speak, he said in the scariest, yet simplest of tones, only a few words.

"Josh Nichols… there are things about the FBI that neither you, nor anyone else will ever understand. Some are very pleasant, and others are very terrible. Remember that."

Josh didn't know what he was actually talking about—if he was explaining his bad manners, or if he was making a threat—but whatever he had meant, the boy didn't dare speak another syllable more back to him.

And as if by some strange magic, down the hall coming towards the group at that very moment, were Doctor Reilly and Doctor Thorton, saving them all from any more tension filled rows.

Drake wished that he and Josh could only get out of that hospital. He knew that Josh was under a ton of pressure and stress about him, and he really hated it—he had always hated seeing smart, sensible Josh loose his head on account of him. But at the same time he knew that they couldn't leave until he had seen Grammy and Megan, and more importantly Anita.

"Reilly, I'm glad to see you." Barlow said, in the place of his still stirred up fellow detective, reaching out and clapped the surgeon in a kindly handshake.

"Same for you, Barlow." came the tired, (but just as kind), smiling answer.

All at once, Drake got enough strength and courage to step up a little and say what were in his immediate thoughts: "Excuse me, but please—Doctor Reilly, I would really, _really_ appreciate if you could tell me all about my friend."

The doctor looked up and gazed across to see who had spoken, and when he saw, a look of astonishment and soft worry painted his face: "Of course, son. But, Becker—" at this, he wheeled around to look at the younger man: "Why hasn't this boy rested? Look how peaked the color in his cheeks looks! Ah, that should have all been attended to."

His reproach was simple enough, but his wiseness and authoritative frown made the man shrink back and stutter out a prideful and sulky reply: "There—there were things that needed doing…"

"Nevertheless, he shouldn't have been kept standing on his feet for such a length. Come on now, Mister Parker—Mr. Nichols; we can all talk in the lounge."

This put Becker in to a silence and as they all hurried in, to sit down in the warm room and Reilly was introduced to the boys' parents and Mindy, he stayed that way.

The relief that Josh had about his brother having a rest was almost the same as Drake's own, when they all settled in to the cozy seats and slowly began their conversation.

"Excuse me if I'm a little slow in explaining myself everyone, but I am quite tired after Miss Prescott's operation." the physician said with a sigh, as he sat back and with a knowing nod from the others, started his story.

"Well… the surgery went very smoothly. No complications whatsoever. It was successful, and I hear from the anesthesiologist that she is beginning to wake up, now."

"…Doctor," Drake asked, again finding the words to speak, yet cautious not to interrupt him: "I know this has got to sound pretty stupid, but… what—what _did _he do her? I—I mean what did you fix?"

He sounded very annoying to himself, but his sentence had a completely different effect of the Doctor.

Looking over to Detective Becker again, with that same face full of sternness, he said: "You didn't tell him? _No one _told him? Becker…"

"I—I…" this time, he had no explanation for his selfish actions.

Maybe now that his proud arrogance had been displayed for them all, they all more or less agreed with the way Josh had been thinking about him, even in the fever of his moment.

Becker was one of a strange kind of people. They're the individuals who have moments of genuine kindness and true niceness, unmarred with any underlying manipulation, but on the other had have moments of selfish pride and unhealthy anger.

But Josh and Drake had already been thinking after observing him, and the conclusion they shared was that with someone of that nature, it's best to ignore them when they are acting wrongly and leave it at that.

So, (as he had figured this out as well), the emergency surgeon only shook his head and turned back to Drake: "I apologize for the lack of communication about Miss Prescott. You shall be told everything."

At this, Drake let out a long breath and then leaned forward; making sure he would hear every word: "Thank you so, so much. …Tell on."

"Well. Really, the injuries were not nearly as bad s they were assumed to be. At first, we thought he may have hit her actual heart, or one of her vital organs, but he hadn't. …It seems to me, that he kind of--" he sat in the edge of his seat and drew his hand in to a fist, brushing Drake's shoulder in illustration: "—Flew in to he shoulder with the blade (just perhaps a centimeter or two deep), between her collarbone and arm. He _did _hit a vein—excuse my words, but that is what caused much of the blood, for the most part."

He continued on in his explanation.

"She lost a good deal of blood through that vein, so we gave her a small transfusion and closed up the wound in her shoulder. Or… wounds, I should say. He apparently had quite a struggle with her, and so there were multiple lacerations in the same place. The only other thing was a long cut from he made from her shoulder blade to her waist, near her back. We had to give her about one hundred stitches there, but as bad it sounds, she should heal completely and have no real scars."

The man paused for a long minute, to let Drake's mind slow and let this new information sink in before he finished.

"That cut on her back was deeper than the others, and it may hurt her to move a lot for the next month. She'll be able to go home in possibly a week, so don't worry."

"…Wow. I…I'm just so glad it's not any worse than it is." Drake shook his head, with a visibly less colorful look spreading his face and then he quietly asked: "Why… did she keep blacking out at my house, right after we found her?"

"Loss of blood. For that alone, she may still feel light headed or faint with too much activity, for around two weeks. She'll have a rough time getting back to eating like usual because of it, but she should be completely healed before two - months' time has passed."

"See, Drake? She'll be better soon. And just before the Christmas season, too!" the cheery voice came in sweet enthusiasm: "Doctor, we thank you very much for the care you've taken with her. If you had not been as swift as you had, well…"

Drake finished his Mother's sentence with a truthful statement of his own: "She would have bled to death. She was near that point when she got here… but you've made her alright. …May I thank you too, with all of my heart, Doctor Reilly?"

"It wasn't I who kept a cool head through this and would have fought Satan himself for her life. …And it wasn't I who had such a caring love for my brother to help him fight, either."

With that and a knowing look at the two teenage boys who sat beside each other, he turned and all of the grownups crowded around him to talk about many things, while they and Mindy sat alone, left to think about what he had said and to shake off as much sadness as they could.

Drake knew Anita's body would get better for certain now and he knew that he'd not loose her to death, but the growing depression building itself inside him continued to remind him that it was entirely possible that he could loose her _love._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Doctor made it clear that no one could see Anita for a while, because as of now she was just waking, and it would be quite some time before she would be awake and fully settled in her _own_ hospital room (because now she was waking in intensive care).

That was really more than alright for everyone, though, because they all had things that they needed to do.

The two detectives (Barlow and Becker) disappeared from the room for a long time, and no one much noticed they were missing until they came back in, through the door.

Drake, (who had become very quiet in the past hour since they'd been in the lounge), looked up with curious eyes at the familiar policeman that had come along with them, to whom they were whispering quietly and spoke up.

His voice was tired, but still steady in feeling: "What is it, Detective Barlow?"

Becker was obviously offended that Drake had addressed his assistant and not himself, but the boy really was so exhausted that he didn't take notice of him.

"Nothing really bad, Mister Parker." Barlow began, in a returned voice, at which now everyone stopped talking to hear what was being said.

"It's just," he went on, "That we have gotten word that the plane Miss Prescott's parents were coming in on had been delayed because of a bad electrical storm."

A murmur of distress ran among one and all and Becker stepped up finish the details: "Which should holdup their getting here until later tonight. Perhaps even midnight."

Drake groaned and melted back in to his seat as the others asked more questions concerning the flight.

"_How much worse can anything possibly get?" _he thought, then wishing almost to take that thought back. …Because perhaps he didn't actually _want_ to know how much worse.

Atleast, maybe now he didn't have to worry about what he would say to Anita's parents, for a while.

…He knew _that _would definitely be a delicate situation, and that had had to be as honest and truthful about his father as he could, no matter what they thought or said about it.

The possibility of the Prescotts blaming him with this whole ordeal was still causing him great anxiety, but he had decided to bear whatever they felt with as much kindness and respect as he could.

Little did he know as he sat deep in the plush arm chair of the coffee lounge and bit his lip in swirling thought, that not more than three feet away from him, in his own chair, Josh was almost as upset for him as he was distressed over his _own _circumstances.

Neither one of those two boys knew very well that the other was really thinking more about their brother than of themselves; but perhaps before long, they would find it out… and they soon would.


	33. Meeting

**Summary: **

_Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital because of Josh; a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revenge, perhaps even murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart because of old heartbreaks. Read and review it!_

**Disclaimer: **

_DRAAAAKE BELONGS TO DRRAAAAKE, AND JOOOOOSH BELONGS TO JOOOOOSH! --sings song--_

**Note to Readers: **

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "Meeting"; Thirty - Three _

**Written By: **_Ginger_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In a clean, plain room, in a dark, shadowy corner, in a rather simple, barred hallway, he sat.

He was livid with mad rage.

It wasn't as if the cell was actually very dark at all—there were florescent lights all the way down the paths just outside, and the only shadowy places were the corners of the space and the dark lines that the bars drew on the wall.

…But to him, it was as dark as the sky is in the country, when it is an overcast, moonless night and all the stars are hidden.

It wasn't at all cold—of course, there were a ceiling fan or two mounted in the top of the corridor, but really it was more uncomfortably warm than cold.

…To _him_, it was the coldest night in winter, in some northern place, without a coat or shoes or a place to keep warm.

And he wasn't _really _hungry, either, but he managed to imagine that he was starving for food… desperate for anything to nourish him.

Then, he began to wish he was high. It was easier to imagine things when he was high.

He'd been that way before, many times, on Marijuana and even Heroin. _So high_ infact, that he had gotten sick and stayed sick for two weeks—over and over.

The drugs had messed up his mind and he had let them. He didn't care! But it wasn't that something terrible had driven him to doing this, or as if he had some half - palatable excuse not to care. No, the truth was that it was simply fun for him.

And this heartless, feeling less, careless man sat there, by himself, day - dreaming of the things he had dreamed of with Heroin.

Horrible things… too horrible for anyone with a feeling or a heart left inside them to even think about for a moment.

But he _did _think of them and he did so with a crooked, odd smile at the edge of his lips that would have made an irrepressible shiver crawl straight up anyone's spine.

Then suddenly, the dreaming stopped. A thought went shattering up from the back of his mind and everything slowed to a halt.

"…I hate you."

The words slid from his lips as the thought went on.

"You were never mine… _never _mine, you worthless trash. Never _anybody's! _ You never _will _be, boy."

The 'boy' was Drake Parker, and the man was (of course), his father Joe.

Even the very thought of his sweet face made Joe want to beat him—and beat him to death. He had almost succeeded earlier that day, but even the vicious punches and kicks he had served him hadn't satisfied his thirst for punishment.

If anyone could possibly explain why he hated Drake so much, it might have only been by a miracle. …And in other words, I suppose that there really _wasn't_ a reason, or if there was, it was too complicated and ill-logical to understand.

And as he began to think about the things he would do to Drake if he could ever get his hands on him again, he slipped back in to his tranceish existence and cracked his knuckles, staring blindly through the barred door with the vilest, most disturbing grin anyone has _ever_ seen.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A call on the cellphone of Jonathan Becker alerted the whole group that Grammy and Meghan were now in the hospital lobby, and would soon be seeing them all.

Drake felt extremely glad that Grammy was coming, because though a while back they had had a rough start, now they both were really very fond of each other (even if they didn't always show it outwardly).

And besides that anyway, it would be nice to see someone sensitive and nice that he knew, with all of the sometimes unkind strangers he had dealt with today.

Josh had leaned over to whisper in his ear about something (probably a thoughtful question about his brother's comfort), but he didn't get past the few words: "Drake, I just wanted to ask—" before his step mother stood from her place and came over to speak to them, interrupting his words.

"Boys? I'm sorry for interrupting you, but I wanted to make sure and warn you before our visitors arrive."

"Sure, Mom. What is it?" Josh asked, looking up and leaning against the arm of Drake's chair, subconsciously.

"Well, nothing _very _important. Just try and remember when Meghan comes up here, not to say too much about what happened. I plan on filling her in eventually, but she _is _only a little girl and I'm afraid you might… scare her." Audrey answered, laying a hand on Drake's knee as she spoke.

"We promise to say as little as we can. Probably Grammy will do most of the talking, anyway." he returned quietly, spawning a grey smile and nodding a single time.

Satisfied by this and another nod from Josh, she patted her son's leg once more before turning and walking away.

"It's a little funny," Josh began to whisper again, when their Mom was out of hearing - range: "To think of _Meghan _being 'scared'. I think it may even classify as an oxymoron…"

For the first time in a while the brown eyes of the tired teen sparkled a little, if noticeably at all and he let a weak chuckle escape his lips: "I just hope she has _some_ sympathy. And if she happens not to, forgive me if I lean on you for reassurance."

Josh smiled back and gave him a gentle poke in the arm, and with a wink he added: "That's somethin' I'm actually pretty cool at."

This brightened Drake's considerably, but almost as soon as it had, a policeman in the corner of the room pulled a walkie-talkie from his belt to hear the voice coming from the speaker.

"Alright," the voice said: "I have Miss Parker and her Grandmother—we're coming up the elevator."

"104." the officer replied, and at another thought of Meghan coming, Drake's features paled again.

His brother noticed at once and stood up, taking his hand and leading him to stand from his chair to meet the coming guests, but not without taking a second to catch his gaze, squeeze his hand and giving him a knowing smile.

Josh only had a few seconds to worry himself, but the truth was that he was a bit worried about how Meghan would behave. Usually she lacked any real compassion and was very harsh, and he knew that 'harsh' was the last thing Drake needed now.

But no one could do anything except hope for good manners now, because with out any final warning, the foursome (the expected visitors guided by two mildly handsome police officers) arrived.

In only a moment, Grammy was across the room and (just as his parents had done), grabbed Drake in a tight hug, hardly letting him get even a glimpse of her before she had done so.

He was delightfully taken by surprise with her sweetness, but he gladly accepted the empathic hug and hugged her right back.

The woman didn't let go of the hold her arms had around his shoulders for a long time, but in her strangely much less gruff voice she said firmly: "Ya' know that it's nothca' fault, don't you, Drake?"

He was just as taken aback by her quick question as he had been about the hug, but when she moved back a little to look at his face, he knew what to answer.

"…Well, I didn't _do _it."

"You know that's not what I was asking." She began, raising a brow, but then apparently she decided to wait until later to make her point to him, because she seemed to remember the little girl still standing in the doorway and turned back to see both her parents greeting little Meghan with thankful embraces of their own.

Drake's step - grandmother finally let him go and then finding a view of Josh over the brown eyed boy's shoulder, she raced around him, saying in a keyed up voice: "Joshie!"

"Oh, Grams," he sighed, nearly melting with thanks in to her steady arms and smiling a wry smile at her: "I'm so glad you're here, with us."

"Josh, you can't be as glad as I am." came the understanding reply.

A moment later, the just-over-middle-aged woman turned to put an arm around each boy's neck, pulling them close to her side and grinning: "I've found you much better off than I thought I would. It's a good thing too—I was getting your little sister very worried about you. …Meghan!"

She called the pre-teen's name softly, yet she hardly needed to because Meghan was already scowling at her from her place across the room, for even implying she was going soft.

She already knew Grammy's meaning instantly, and was walking slowly toward them before the lady could say anymore about her that she didn't like.

Stopping a few feet in front of them and wearing a completely unreadable expression on her face, she waited for Grammy to pass her and the woman patted her shoulder before joining her son and his wife on the other side of the space.

Meanwhile, Josh stared hard at the eleven year old, trying to figure out what her silent stare meant. It told him nothing.

At last, Drake sucked in a breath and looked at her, breaking the silence:

"H—hey, Meghan."

His voice sounded so tired and a little bit frightened, that the girl looked straight up at him and bent her brow in contemplation.

Finally though, she rested her frown and nodded once, her face softening in to the closest thing she could produce next to a smile.

"So you guys are okay?"

Her question made Drake apprehensive because he didn't know what she meant, but he only answered with the truth: "…Yeah, we're both pretty okay."

Suddenly a sort of shadow that had been there before fell from her face, and she suddenly stepped forward to catch the wide eyed teenager in a hug.

Drake (_and_ Josh, for that matter) was so stunned that he hardly even knew if he should try and hug her back.

Finally after a moment, he thought it safe enough and managed to bring his arms cautiously around her little shoulders.

But only for a minute, before he let go, afraid of what she might do if he hugged her in earnest.

Josh just stood there, with his mouth open and his hands dangling at his sides until she gave him a quick hugs as well and then stepped back.

Her face fell back in to the rough, foxy grin she usually possessed and before anything else was done, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at them, as if to warn them not to mention her actions, ever.

Her blazing look had worked, and Josh was the first to recover and speak up.

"Uh, so Megs—I guess you should know that Anita is out of surgery now. …Her injuries weren't too serious or anything. We're all going to go see her in a little bit. …Maybe you and Grammy will still be here and then you could come with us."

"Nah, I don't think so," she said matter-of-factly, although still apparently glad to hear of Anita's health, glancing at her watch and going on: "It's already nearly ten o' clock and Grammy said with traffic and all, we'll need to be back home by twelve."

"I guess you guys'll be like… leaving in only a little while, then?" Drake spoke somberly, plainly sad about loosing them so quickly (or loosing Grammy atleast, because he didn't much know what to think of his sister and was starting to run out of normal, chattery conversation.)

"I guess so. …So, did you get to ride in the police car? Did they handcuff you?-!" Meghan asked, with disturbing joy and a little too much excitement dancing in her eyes.

"_Meghan!"_

She ignored Josh's reproach, leaning against the plush chair beside her and continuing on: "Riding in the cop car must have been _so _awesome."

This brought to Josh's mind the image of being in the vehicle, and at the thought of Drake laying his head weakly and limply against his shoulder, hardly restraining from a deeply shattered sob; he could think of no word further from the truth than "awesome".

Drake thought for a second or two (probably with ideas quite alike to Josh's) before he finally answered in a thoughtful tone: "It was very… interesting. I think I was kind'a too distracted to notice how um—'awesome' it was."

Halfway through his brother's sentence, pleased that Drake and Meghan seemed to have found something to converse over, Josh turned and slipped away to ask his Grandmom how she was and perhaps to gain a little strength from her.

Meghan noticed Josh leaving, but only looked back at Drake after the other boy was gone to where Grammy sat, and said in a slightly mysterious voice: "Well, Josh is gone…"

Drake turned to look, but the girl grabbed his arm and drug him a few steps in the other direction.

"Don't _go get him, _you boob—I'm glad he left! I want to talk to you!"

Drake wondered dazedly what she wanted to 'talk' about with him, but he could hardly resist her incessant pull on his arm, so he walked to the chair furthest from the crowd and sat down, while Meghan sat in front of him, in another.

"Now," she breathed, in a lower voice, yet still full with no less of her usual toughness, "I want to know why you look so freaked out right now."

The brunette teenager was taken aback, not knowing that the 'freaked out' feeling he had inside him was showing on the _outside_, but finally he answered.

"I… I dunno, I guess I just thought that maybe… _maybe _you would think I did something wrong by…"

"By fighting Dad?"

Her efficient sentence-ending abilities made him gape momentarily, but he slowly shut his mouth and then spoke: "Yeah, I guess so! …Exactly. But how would you know--?"

"I just do. And—" her reply came flatly and plainly: "I don't think you were wrong for it. Dad used to like me best, but I always knew he was just playing me for what I could give him. …You were pretty darn good at fighting him apparently, because he didn't break anything," she glanced him up and down, indicating his bones: "_And, _you're still alive. I'm just surprised he didn't try to stab you, too."

"He _did, _actually." Drake said honestly, and then turned to glance at the figure talking with Grammy: "Josh saved me. He brought the police."

Meghan looked surprised and then turned to get a look at him herself before shaking her head: "_He_ saved you? …I always knew he was weird."

Drake didn't exactly understand what she meant (like a lot of the time), but he did know that Meghan was atleast still _her_ old self.

…Maybe that horrible man had not really changed everyone's lives, as he had thought.

Drake, Meghan, Mindy, Josh and Grammy joined his parents and the pair of doctors; and the detectives laid out a few of the established facts (about Anita and a bit about Drake's father) again for the newcomers who had missed the discussion earlier about Joe Parker.

All but the details of the drug rings and the murder of Great Uncle Gavin were told, and they only reason no one spoke much of those things was to spare Meghan.

Though really, if they had known her as well as Drake and Josh had, they wouldn't have thought even twice about mentioning it.

Drake was listening to the others catch up with Grammy for a while, and sat quietly looking on from his seat.

He _was_ getting a little tired, but he was not discontent or irritated about not being spoken to because even just sitting in the midst of his family was comforting.

But suddenly, someone spoke his name and his stare shattered as he looked around, wondering who it was.

"Drake!" the voice repeated and he realized that it was Grammy herself: "Ya' listening?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Grammy," he sighed, giving his head a shake: "I must have been thinking pretty hard. Did you say something?"

The poor boy looked so sweet and worn out that all of them felt sorry for forgetting him for a while.

"I just thought you might want to take a little walk down to the atrium with me. You must be getting sick of these closed - in places." the older woman said, with a kind smile in return.

Drake heart seemed to sigh a breath of relief at the invitation and to his surprise too, because hadn't even noticed how sick of sitting and waiting in tiny rooms he had become.

"Yes Drake, that would be a very nice idea. By the time you get back, perhaps you could see Miss Prescott." James Barlow nodded and Grammy went on.

"It's ten thirty and you and I just have time for a nice break before I have to take your little sister back home."

"I would love to go to the atrium—an open space and a look at the sky would probably refresh me a lot, too." Drake said, with a nod.

"Good then! Come on, sweetie," she began kindly, standing, picking up her purse and turning to Josh before they started to leave: "Josh, do you wann'a come along with us?"

The light eyed teenager stared off for a few seconds, seeming to contemplate this, but he finally smiled at his brother and shook his head: "No, I don't think so. You two go ahead."

It was evident Drake was very thankful for his company and encouragement, but Josh understood that it was good for him to go on and walk with someone different for a little while and that of all people, Grammy would certainly help him feel a bit better.

The boy sensed his thoughts and he slipped him a sweet smile of his own, silently thanking him, before he and his step Grandma departed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The pair walked a long way down a hall, and turned to take the elevator as far up as it would go—to where (on the top floor of the building), the atrium stood.

They took up walking again, and slowly they neared a dramatic archway with a little door in the center, to keep out the light in the hall.

Until they stepped inside it, they had been completely silent, because though there was plenty to talk about, they had almost grown weary of 'talking'… or atleast Drake had, and Grammy felt it.

The atrium was so beautiful and peaceful to the eye, that it didn't seem possible that it was in the middle of a hospital, and for a moment Drake just breathed in a slow breath as he wished he could simply capture the freedom in a jar and take it out to have again whenever he wanted it.

The walls in front of them, in seemingly the five hundred foot room were made of frosted glass, tented dark to keep the glaring ugly city lights outside out, but just the least bit sheer to lend a gentle blue glow to the room.

Apart from the glow of the glass wall, there were little, low burning lights along the walls, around waist high.

Drake noticed too as they sat down amid a clump of black colored, stylish futons and ottomans in the middle of the room, that while the lights on the walls were bright enough to navigate the room by, they didn't distort the view through the thick glass roof at all.

…And what a lovely view, it was. They didn't say anything even then, for a minute, because they were busy taking it in.

Apparently the clouds of the day had gone long ago, because through the big dark blanket of sky the North Star glittered brilliantly along with the moon and they seemed to wink down at the earth below them.

"Ah…"

Drake didn't need to sigh to let Grammy know how he felt. To even be in an open space was good enough for him, but for his hungry, space-starved eyes to be allowed such an amazing scene made him sigh anyway.

"I thought you would like to break out of that little room, no matter how 'cozy' it may have been." she smiled, glancing at him a second before returning her attention to the panorama.

"This _is beautiful."_ he whispered back, for some reason not feeling like he could possibly dare to speak in a normal tone and take away from the awe of the picture framed perfectly in the ceiling.

"I can't say that I don't agree…"

Her voice paused for a moment but then she shook the dreamy feeling away and sighed a sigh of her own: "But… I didn't only take you here to stare in to space."

Drake looked down from the skylight and gathered his brows together, slowly speaking.

"You didn't?"

She shook her head no and for a split second, her manner reminded him so much of Josh that a pale smile spread his lips.

"…Then I'd have to say, you chose the wrong place to come. This whole room is _made for_ staring off in to space." pointing in an upward direction, he watched her laugh softly, and she reached up to slap him gently on the shoulder.

"I came here on _purpose._ I wanted to talk to you and I thought it'd be easier away from all the lights and sounds of the hospital."

A pause came and then went away again.

"I know this sounds very dramatic and all and I'm aware that Josh has been taking extremely good care of you. But he probably hasn't 'talked' to you about all this, yet… not really. And I think it's more an old lady's gift than a young brother's, anyway."

"Oh, I see." he said, looking back up at the night sky very soberly and feeling his shoulders sag tiredly at this thought.

"_What good will that do?"_ he thought to himself, be restrained from saying it aloud.

Apparently though, he didn't need to bother restraining, because the woman went on just as if he _had_ said it.

"Oh, now… talking _is_ important. If you bottle all your pains inside, eventually you're just gonn'a run out of room in there."

She rested a hand on his shoulder and said her words slowly and compassionately.

"It's just the way you're made, Drake. And no matter what someone has told you, your feelings _don't_ belong kept up inside, hidden from everybody."

And a whisper full of her soft Brooklyn accent and with all the kindness she had, floated to his ears and seemed to reach even deeper down inside of him, answering a question he'd struggled with for so long.

"The world _is_ a bad place, Drake Parker, and it's true that you must guard yourself. What you have taught yourself about that is true. …But there _are_ good people living in it too. Like Anita and your parents and friends… and Josh.

"I don't know exactly what your life has been like, but I know that that man hurt your heart so deeply that he has made you afraid. Afraid of that hurt coming upon you again, and scared of such a pain. But _no one_ can hurt you like he's hurt you, ever again, because though some one could so the same thing to you, you have learned from the hurt that he gave you."

He looked up and conveyed his feelings with his sad eyes, yet never spoke a word.

"You learned not to depend so fully on anyone and everyone, and learned to look for red flags instead of ignoring them. Those are lessons that you will never cast aside and that many people (unfortunately) never learn. …But you have, and it's all for the better."

Drake sat quietly for a long time, and she had almost started to wonder if he was asleep when he began to shiver and turned to her with a face of mingled truthfulness and confusion.

"You're right… I know. I have to let go, I know I have to let myself cry if I feel it—and I guess I do feel it. But…"

His brown eyes showed deep meaning and held such a look of agony that it would have melted anyone's heart:

"But I _can't_ cry! I _can't_ even feel! Grammy, I know I should try harder, but it doesn't help—or, or maybe… I don't know. Something… something must be wrong with me."

A note of regret panged in the woman's heart and she instantly rebuked herself for perhaps leading him to these confused feelings, as she laid her hand on his arm and spoke as gently as her rough core would allow her to.

"You have _nothing_ wrong with you, dear Drake. And you _will _feel again. It may not be today or tomorrow, but your soul can heal—and it will. Don't be so sad." she leaned over to plant a butterfly kiss on his cheek (and was a little surprised when he didn't wipe it off, for she didn't know how extreme his need for comfort of _every kind_ was at the moment) and then finished:

"I know Josh's heart hurts very badly when you are so pained. …Come on now, we can't stay here forever, as beautiful as it is. We should get back—perhaps, my Grandson, your anxiety won't sting so deep when you see the girl he's hurt most, feeling better."

At the thought of Anita, the boy calmed considerably, but as they stood up and reluctantly began their journey back, he could feel a slight pull in his middle and he knew that before long the pull would wind itself in to a solid knot.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Drake's guess about the knot had proved itself correct and now (even though he was with Josh and his parents again), he not only felt his stomach flip - flop, but his throat seemed to take up the trend and it was so tight and dry that he could barely even swallow.

Doctor Reilly had gone when Drake and his step - Grandmother had returned, to check with the anesthesiologist. He had said that if Anita was awake and settled in her hospital room when he arrived, then he would send someone back to get them and they could all come to see her.

This information was relayed to Drake and he _seemed_ to take it well enough to his parents and the rest of those with him, but as only he (and perhaps his brother) knew, he was _inwardly _terrified.

Indeed maybe Josh _had_ taken notice of his dearest friend's mood, because though he didn't speak a word, he stationed himself beside him and refused to stand anywhere else.

Seeing for herself Josh's obvious dedication and Drake's seeming contentedness, Grammy sighed and decided it was time enough to take her leave.

"Drake, I wish I could stay longer and see your friend in her room, but if you don't mind too much, I think you're little sister should be getting to sleep soon, so I had better start home. And anyway, too many people might tire the poor girl."

Grammy's voice gently broke the murmur of soft words among the parents and Mindy (who were remarking on his strength and resilience in the situation).

Drake, still standing against a wall with his brother, stepped slowly forward and sighed: "Oh, Grammy, if you have to leave, alright."

He let her hug him and his own family stood from their seats to say their goodbyes, but before they could take her over, he whispered an exclamation of thanks for her encouragement, in her ear.

Smiling mischievously, she pulled back and said in a tone full of her old spunk: "Ya' welcome. …But before I leave, ya' gott'a promise me you'll do somethin' very important."

Her face turned in such a look of seriousness that Drake's eyes widened in apparent curiosity: "…What is it?"

She grinned ear to ear and suddenly laughed, reaching out and gingerly roughing up his soft hair: "Getcha' self a hair cut."

A thankful smile played his face and he shook his head in amusement before saying thoughtfully: "Alright, maybe. …'Bye, Grammy."

Meghan was drastically less playful and only gave he and Josh polite hugs before telling each a hasty "Goodbye—see you tomorrow", then turning to say her temporary farewells to her Mom and step Dad.

Both the little girl and the older woman were swarmed with goodbyes, and at last, when it seemed no one should say anymore, Audrey let out a little chuckle and held up a hand.

"Enough! Let them go home, we'll see them both again tomorrow evening and we'll hear from them even sooner."

Mindy, Walter, Josh and Drake all stepped back from her and all exchanged laughs before they repeated a last "Goodbye!" and the duo finally left the room, under the care of Officer Becker.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For once, Drake found things to fill the time they had to wait for someone to come and take them to visit Anita.

He had so many things that were occupying his mind, that he had no time to even think about being bored.

He was feeling very surreal and could hardly believe he would see her again, but at the same time he wondered what he would possibly feel like.

All of the sudden, he was hit with the realization that it wouldn't be long before he _did _see her, and though he tried, he couldn't stop himself from quivering violently.

Josh was the only one to take notice, and he leaned over to ask him if he was okay, but before he could even speak, Drake turned and whispered frantically: "J—Josh, what can I say to her?"

Alas, Josh's own question was answered, and now he laid an understanding hand on his shivering arm.

"You'll know when you see her."

His reassurance, spoken in even the softest of tones, was not enough to calm Drake's quaking.

"But—but, I'll freeze up! I—I have _no idea _what I could say to her to—"

Again, his brother interrupted his genuinely terrified sentence and rubbed his arm as he spoke, as if to say in the action itself that he need not worry so much.

"Trust me, and don't be so scared. All you have to do is look at her—you don't even _have _to talk if you don't want to."

Josh reminded him gently that though she was alright, she would still be very tired and perhaps slightly out of it from the pain - killers she was being given, so the fact remained that she might not be so very talkative herself.

This only slightly slowed the torturous spin in Drake's thoughts, but certainly the edge on his worries had been taken off by these statements, for it seemed Josh always had a special way with soothing him.

Drake still wished that Grammy could have stayed to be with all of them, and wished for her presence and comfort even more when a nurse suddenly came in to the room.

It all happened in a whirl in Drake's mind—the nurse reported that Doctor Reilly had sent her back to get them and take them up to see Miss Prescott.

She seemed to be addressing Drake, but in his misery he thought she was speaking to his parents—so because he hadn't listened, he was caught off guard when everyone stood and began to file from the room.

Josh sensed his deep confusion and carefully took hold of his elbow and guided him toward the door. Drake realized where it was they must be going, and looking to Josh standing near him; he sighed and managed a wistful smile.

He was so unready that he felt weak and apathetic, but still the time that he dreaded yet longed for drew closer and closer.

The way he felt is hard to describe with words—but the closest description that can be offered was this.

He was numb, yet he knew that he needed to be alert; he was tired yet awake as he had ever been; scared, but most of all confused.

And instead of walking from the room and down the hall (or having the memory of walking), he only seemed to himself to be floating or bumping dazedly along.

_Anita, Anita, Anita…_

A shiver found his spine and up the elevator shaft they went—the whole crowd stuffed in to one space.

Audrey, Walter, Josh, Mindy, Doctor Thorton, Officer Becker, Barlow and Drake. …But Drake was slumped so inconspicuously in the corner of the tiny place that he barely even counted as taking up any room.

Even _Josh_ seemed to miss the depth of turmoil that was twisting itself inside the dark eyed teenager, now.

I suppose it wasn't entirely Josh's fault that he didn't check again to see how his brother was—because for a long while Drake had somehow seemed almost normal. So really, the raven-haired boy hadn't guessed that he would feel this horrible. …But he did.

They trudged down another hall—this one was more open and bright and the ceilings were much higher, lending a more breathable feel to the wide corridor.

But poor Drake didn't notice. He hardly even noticed when the group stopped walking and Doctor Thorton began to talk to a nurse standing in front of a closed door.

"Yes, this is the boy and his family…" the young Doctor's words murmured past: "No, Miss Prescott's parents _aren't _here—"

He went on to give a brief explanation of the delayed flight, and then after another moment of conversing with the nurse, she and the Doctor disappeared quietly through the door. Drake lifted his foggy, questioning eyes first to his brother, but when he didn't respond, to Detective Barlow.

"They're checking if the coast is clear." he replied, in as little words as possible, so he wouldn't lose Drake's attention.

With a nod, the brunette slipped back in to his disturbed silence and offered no counter-reply.

Audrey, (who seemed very interested by now), spoke up and asked: "Excuse me for being so inquisitive, but I think I should like to see her, myself—her poor parents aren't here yet, and I know she must want them terribly by now. …Would it be impossible for Walter and Mindy and I to see her _as well_ as my boys?"

A smile crossed Jonathan Becker's professional features and surprised everyone except Drake, and he answered in a simple but oddly soft way.

"Of course, m'am. I think that with Doctor Reilly's consent, there would be no problem in _all of you _seeing Miss Prescott."

"Oh, wonderful," Mindy added, in genuine thoughtfulness: "I would like to visit with Anita, too. She is so kind and though we have never had much of a chance to talk, I consider her a very good friend."

Walter said nothing, because being the truly awkward weatherman that he was, he wouldn't really know what to say to his step-son's girlfriend. But still, he had an honest desire to know how she was doing and wouldn't mind the visit (as long as Mindy and Audrey did the majority of the talking).

"Then you shall certainly get your chance to talk to her—that is, as long as the doctor _does_ approve." James agreed, almost as afraid as everyone else that his partner's near - good mood might be spoiled.

A call came up on Becker's special phone however, before he could have a chance to say anything, and though he assured them that it probably was nothing important, he decided to answer it, anyway.

From what the others heard after that, the whole thing must have been about the rest of the police force acquiring permission to leave the Parker-Nichols' house.

The conversation mostly consisted of the Detective agreeing upon orders with the head of the local law enforcement, and explaining what he wanted to do with the photos of the disheveled house in court.

But all that were in ear-shot were taken aback when Jonathan's voice rose in to a stern growl and his brows bent together in annoyance as he practically yelled in to the telephone.

"What?-! I don't really care, O'Connor! Get 'em out of there! Whatever it takes, yes! I won't have those stupid reporters parading around that house! …No, police tape is _not_ necessary. Just get them out of there, okay? Alright!"

With a pause and a few more gruff parting words, he hung up and looked toward the group, his face reddening noticeably.

"I'm very sorry," he began, "For my loudness, but this is _very_ frustrating business. …'Seems that the local cable news channel and papers already have an itch for a story on your crisis. I don't know who could have passed the story to them…"

In to Josh's mind an image of sniveling Lyn, pink-clad and whining in her lisping manner instantly flooded, and biting his lip in anger, he mumbled: "I bet I do…"

Becker looked to him and then continued, to everyone: "I've taken care of it for now, but I'm afraid that within a few days, they'll all be after you for their scoops."

"Well, it's alright. I mean, it's expected they would want get their own stories. It really isn't a very usual situation, but I hope the press won't track us down for a while… I'm not sure it's the best of times for us all to become stars." Walter joked a little, definitely lightening the heavy burden of depression bearing down on everyone because of this announcement.

Josh was still worried about the whole thing. Up until now, it hadn't even crossed his mind, but it was true--people would want to know what had gone on. The local news, the cable shows, the school paper. …Perhaps "Miss Nancy" might even have to write a column to get the true story out.

Surely Josh's entire family and the huge attempted-murder-thing would be the talk of the entire area for weeks. After all, it _wasn't_ everyday that a cute guy's estranged, drug-addict father went totally psycho and tried to kill several people.

Audrey and Walter had begun to think about it a bit apprehensively themselves because it would naturally be their responsibilities to shield the boys from publicity as much as they could.

But all of the sudden, Doctor Thorton came back though the door and everyone's thoughts jolted to a stop.

_Now would they finally get to see her? _

The look on the man's face was still cheerful, but a somber light in his eyes made the heart of one in the assembly pump.

"Alright," he sighed, with a placid smile as he surveyed each face: "Doctor Thorton says that Miss Prescott _is_ ready to see some guests."

He paused, and his face grew a bit less bright before he went on: "She is very tired, though. And because of that, we will simply have to split the visitors in to two sets. Too many people at once might cause her to grow weary."

At this, Drake was deathly afraid that he would be separated from his brother, but when he looked up at Josh, he seemed completely pre-occupied and not at all interested in how Drake was doing and the poor brown eyed boy's heart ached silently in his chest as he looked back down at the floor.

"I propose to send Mr. Walter and Mrs. Audrey to go in, and then maybe Miss Crenshaw can come along with the boys." James' voice came fourth, in its sensible, rational way.

This only slightly lightened Drake's load.

"Ah-- a good suggestion. Is that alright with everyone?"

Nearly everybody added a chorus of yes's and Thorton intended upon leading the younger group in first, but when the Doctor caught sight of the one panicked glance in the crowd, he changed his mind and turned to the adults.

"Okay--how about you two heading in first, with me? I'm sure Miss Anita would enjoy your company in the temporary absence of her own Mom and Dad."

He exchanged a meaningful (and even reproachful) gaze with Josh as he spoke to them, and suddenly the light-eyed boy understood something.

A moment later as Audrey and Walter took in their breaths and patted each boy's back before following the physician through the door, a deep, dark cloud of guilt filled Josh's heart.

The two older people by now had vanished, and the door was closed, but Josh hadn't known it because he was so overcome with remorse for a discrepancy he had found in himself.

The police had also gone to walk a short distance away from the young trio to talk about something minor and it took him until a full moment later to recover, turning slowly around to find his step brother.

The instant he saw the pale, drawn face full of gloom, he knew that he had done a great injustice by forgetting Drake entirely for such a long period.

Without thinking at all, he shook his head in disbelief at himself and impulsively darted fourth in a hug, as if to scream an apology.

By the time he realized how random the act must have seemed, it was just a little too late, but he didn't have an opportunity to pull away with embarrassment because Drake was already wrapping his trembling arms around his shoulders and grasping him warmly.

Mindy watched Josh swallow back at the lump in his throat as he softly embraced his friend, yet holding to him lightly enough that he could have easily escaped Josh if he had so wished.

Instead, Drake just stood like that for a minute more, finally straightening up and sighing sadly as he let go.

That was all the conversation that was needed between Drake and Josh, to say "I'm really sorry" and "Hey, it's fine because I forgive you anyway".

"Josh…" he finally spoke in a serious way, brushing his amber hair away from his face: "I'm scared. Is that stupid?"

The little, odd voice that spoke hardly reminded either of the other two of himself at all, and it took some doing before Josh could respond back.

"No, Drake." he paused, to try and find the right words, but gave up and went on anyway: "It's far from stupid. You _should_ feel scared--I mean, that's what the normal reaction would be to this chaos. But the thing is, you can be scared with out being ruined. Just try to slow down, even though I know how hard it is."

Drake closed his burning eyes and sighed so deeply that he nearly feared his sore lungs would burst, and for a second, imagined only sinking against Josh's strong shoulder and letting his knees give out as they pleaded for him to.

"I think…" Mindy began, still a bit shaken by witnessing such an emotional scene: "I think it would be a good idea for us all to sit down for a while."

They looked for a place to sit, and they most unfortunately found none--but Drake had become so tired that he contented himself with sliding down to the floor and leaning against the wall behind him.

It was a rather long wait, and in the end both Josh and Mindy had come to sit on the teen's left side (Josh in the middle, Mindy to _his_ left), they were sitting along the right side of the hall, and to Drake's right stood the frame of Anita's door.

He couldn't manage to narrow his mind down to thinking one thought at a time, because so many were hitting him simultaneously as he sat there. He was at least to say, very worried about the girl lying beyond that doorway and what she might say when he saw her.

Alas though, that thought didn't last long, as all the rest.

_Anita!_

They rested there a long while like that, just thinking for maybe ten or fifteen minutes. Regrettably, the silence didn't endure, either.

Suddenly, before anything more could be said between the three, or before another deliberation had time to seep through Drake's brain, the door (perhaps two inches from his right shoulder) swung open and three people emerged, from inside.

His face snapped to attention and he scrambled up from the floor all in a rush along with the couple just behind him.

At first glance, the boys realized that their Mom was barely restraining tears, and their Dad looked dramatically serious and completely devoid of any of his usual goofiness.

All in a second, identical shudders passed through them both a sick feeling in the pit of Drake's stomach became sicker.

Audrey saw him first, and stepping forward she quickly embraced his shoulders, taking great effort in loosening her tight grip and whispering very softly: "Oh, Drake, Anita looks quite fine. She _is_ weak and sleepy, but she will love to see you so much. I just know it."

Rather than letting Drake say what he wished to his mother, Doctor Thorton spoke he and Josh's names and they drew their lagging eyes to look at him.

"Okay, you three, right in here." his voice went on, and he motioned toward the open door, hastily.

He had barely given them time to breathe, before these words and now Josh (instead of Audrey) had his hands gently on his companion's shoulders, murmuring a kind: "It's… it's alright."

Standing tall again, he let go, and after a time they started forward through the door after Thorton.

Their parents presented them forced, sweet and encouraging smiles as they passed, but they felt no better all the same.

Suddenly, a consideration flashed before Drake so savagely that he wanted to turn and run, but his brother was inhibiting him.

"_She's going to hate you. She'll look at you, and only wonder why he couldn't have killed you instead of your Great Uncle Gavin."_

And like the speed of light, they were in the room.

Such a dread and feeling of being horribly unprepared filled him, that he actually turned around in the doorway to face Josh, about to beg with all that was within him to allow him just to go home, but Doctor Reilly's firm voice called his name before the words could hasten out.

"There you are, Drake Parker. …Turn around and come over here to me."

The voice he possessed was full of firmness, but yet held such a tone of wise understanding, that it seemed to summon the poor boy.

And so with a heart beating nearly out of his chest, he slowly turned and took in the room for the first time.

Three walls of the place were painted white, (or cream—in the light he couldn't tell), and the one wall on which the bed sat was painted in a deep, hospital teal.

Doctor Reilly sat in a plain chair on the left of the bed, and around the room were various pieces of medical equipment, along with a cot for sleeping and vanity counter with a sink and a mirror hanging over it.

But at last, his weary eyes glanced over the sight he had been so afraid of seeing, before.

In a special hospital bed, with several tubes and monitor cables attached to each of her arms, dressed in what looked like a cotton hospital gown and beneath a set of sheets and a woven blanket, she was lying back.

No one could have told from her face if she was asleep or not—her eyes were closed and apart from the rise and all of her chest and the blip on the heart-monitor every few seconds, one might assume she was dead.

She had a light blue bruise streaked across her temple, which had apparently only become visible after she was taken from the house.

It wasn't that she _looked_ horribly battered, but it was the air in the room, or—or maybe the way she struggled for each breath that made your skin crawl.

Drake took all of this in in no more than five or ten seconds, but the thing that struck him hardest was the sight of her.

It was almost a mirror image of how she had looked dropping to the floor in a faint in front of the brothers, in their hall this morning, and the memory for Drake was so violent that he stopped in his path to stare at her.

He stood there looking for so long that Josh feared that one of the two Doctors would snap at him, but instead they let him stand in silence until the light eyed boy _himself_ stepped up and gently touched his back.

He responded by looking back despondently for a moment and then slipping his hand in to his.

Understanding he was very troubled at the moment, Josh clasped his hand and carefully led him to Doctor Reilly at the bed's side.

"She… is… is she… awake?" Drake whispered at last, his eyes wandering back to her face.

"Yes, she's only napping. You can wake her. But she is more than exhausted and may lapse in and out of coherency. Be careful and don't tire her." he replied, in a voice so low that Josh and Mindy both had to strain to catch the words.

Waiting a long time, Drake sighed silently and turned toward the bed. He slid his hand from Josh's, reached out reluctantly and moved to take her's.

Suddenly (before he could do anything) he shrunk back and turned away, murmuring a pained: "I can't…" and began shuddering ever harder.

But then his shaking seemed to stop for a minute, when a barely hearable, raspy whisper came.

"D--Drake…?"

Anita's mumbled stutter tumbled out and boy felt his heart stab in his chest with the sound of her voice.

"Miss Prescott, I am sorry to wake you up from your short rest, but we have three people here who would like to see you very much."

At the kind voice of Doctor Thorton, her eyes slowly opened and she squinted at first, before her sight adjusted to the light.

Drake felt his face soften and he carefully turned back around, thinking that perhaps he could just this thing over with.

He saw the light of recognition draw a frown in to her brow and for a second, he was afraid he might loose control and slide to the floor in weakness, but somehow he kept himself from doing so.

"…Hey, there! We've come to say hello! How are you feeling?" Josh said in a very sweet voice, succeeding to break the heart-straining tension.

It took a long time for the girl to say anything, for she had her hazy green eyes locked on Drake.

At last, she spoke a very quiet answer.

"Thanks… I'm…" she stopped to blink very tiredly and bite her lip: "…Okay."

Josh piped up again and said: "Meghan _would have_ come, but Grammy insisted on her getting to bed before two in the morning."

Anita's face clouded and she parted her lips to ask: "W--what time _is_ it?"

Josh looked down and replied "About one fifteen."

The wounded girl fell quiet and looked very surprised for a while, but soon tiredness stole the expression away. Her state was so obviously worn out and still extremely delicate that all three teenagers were secretly afraid of a relapse.

Worst of all was Drake, because though he tried to get it out of his head, he couldn't help but wonder if this might be the last time he saw her.

"_What if she… dies?"_

It was the most painful thought that had hit him all day, and he knew if he thought about it much longer, he'd feel as if depression had swallowed him. …Still, he had to wonder.

She looked alright. But Reilly had told him that there was always the danger of infection of wounds, and in the worst scenario, it could weaken to the point of death. Loss of so much blood had effected her system and her risks were all high.

_No!_

He wouldn't think about it. No matter what.

…Yet he couldn't stop it from nagging at him from the back of his mind.

Everyone was _very _quiet, and an uncomfortable silence followed.

Drake was beyond frightened, now—too frightened to look directly at her, though he felt her nearly–closed eyes on him almost the entire time.

Looking up, Mindy finally broke the quiet (to the relief of everyone) and began to say something.

"Anita, I'm Mindy Crenshaw. I heard about you and couldn't help but drop by to come visit. I couldn't blame you if you remember not much more about me than my being Josh's girlfriend… and a history enthusiast." her kind way of humor was strangely not taxing on the girl at all.

Josh chuckled and an almost - smile came slowly to the frail girl's lips, but all Drake could do was grip his knuckles until they turned white and glance up at her face for a single instant.

"I remember you, Mindy. …T—thank you for visiting me. Thank… thank _all _of you."

Drake felt his heart split at her emphasis on these words and wondered why she refused to say his name.

"_That's silly… she's too tired to say that much. What's the big deal? …Now say something! What should I say? Gosh, she looks so tired… Anita **please** don't hate me."_

Thoughts whizzed by in his head and he dropped his gaze when Josh said: "Well, we were all _happy_ to come! _Weren't we, Drake?"_

Maybe he was thinking his brother ought to say something, as well, but Drake's tongue seemed glued and his words caught in his throat.

At last, he squeaked out a piecy sentence and smiled wanly, grabbing his messy hair at his neck, in nervousness.

"Yes, Anita, we are very happy. We—we—_I _was worried about you. I'm glad you're doing okay…"

A weak, melancholy smile drew across her dead white mouth and she blinked again slowly, she lifted one or two fingers and touching his arm, and then lost all her strength and dropping both—her hand and her smile.

He felt such a pain crack at his chest that he became queasy and he locked his knees so he wouldn't fall the ground in an inconsolable, hysterical ball.

"_I'm _glad you came to visit me." Anita said, very sleepily.

Drake looked at her for a long time, trying to restrain himself, but all in a rush, he gasped in a breath and words started to tumbled from his lips, before he could stop them.

"Oh, Nita—" he said quickly, shaking his head: "I know that you did get hurt, and that he _is_ my father, but you're going to be fine anyway and I can't—"

Suddenly the color of her face fell greenish-white and she closed her eyes, sinking back in the pillow behind her; and Josh reached forward, grabbing his brother's wrist and making his words stop: "Drake!"

It wasn't that he meant to do it, but his heart was aching so badly to talk to her that he didn't even really know he was doing wrong until it was over.

"I don't… please—please… just go away." her eyes flooded and she whispered: "I don't _want to talk…_ Please leave."

It was then that Drake realized what he had said and his breath seemed to stop in his lungs.

He shrunk back, brushing against Josh who stood very close behind him still clutching his wrist, and tears came to his eyes with hearing her heart - rending plea.

"…S—sure, Anita." he stepped backwards, around his brother and felt his hand shaking with his brother's grasp.

The Doctors both stood near, signaling the three to leave, but before they could be shown out, Drake spoke in a low, husky voice: "…But I'm sorry."

He thought she had heard him and was too angry to respond, but in reality, he had spoken so softly that she hadn't heard him at all.

The time it took to get from the room to his Mother's arms seemed to ebb, and as to how he was suddenly in her embrace, in the hall, he drew a blank.

Josh looked on at him, wrapped in his Mom's hug, and thought that Drake was much like an innocent puppy that had toppled over an expensive vase.

…He hadn't meant to hurt the girl by what he said, and he _certainly _had no control over what his father did, but yet he felt like it was all his doing.

"Oh, Mom," he murmured: "I ruined it—I ruined it all. I'm horrible."

"Drake! I can't stand to hear you speak of yourself in such a way. …It's not ruined." Audrey replied, sensibly.

He insisted: "Yes it is! She's afraid of me—she—she told me to get out. I'm _so_… so…"

He seemed to be searching for a word bad enough to describe himself, when she said something else.

"No, no. Don't Drake. It's alright…"

_Walter _even came to lay a hand on his weak shoulder, saying: "You're far from any of those things. You are just tired and upset, that's all."

Almost everyone tried to offer comforts to him, but Josh stayed right where he was, beside Mindy, still looking across the little group and frowning in deep concern for the teen.

Audrey gently stroked his hair and then stepped back a half-step to look in to his face. She was surprised when she found no tears in his eyes, and he only looked back at her, saying a very somber: "I'm sorry… I couldn't get control of myself."

Both his parents assured him that he had nothing to apologize for, and he nodded a gray "Thank You." before stepping from her embrace.

The policemen had stayed back, away from them all for a few minutes to give them as much personal space as possible, but as soon as they realized that the situation was calm again, they returned to the others and reported hat they had received a call from the airport.

Anita's parent's plane had just come in, and would be there eventually, but because of security and bag-checking, it would be near to three in the morning before they arrived.

At the thought of facing _her parents, _Drake's face quickly went ashen and he glanced anxiously at his wristwatch.

_One twenty-five. _He'd been awake a little more than twenty hours straight now, and he desperately wanted somewhere to lie down_--especially _after such an emotional event as the one that had just recently transpired.

But he couldn't, because he had to stay and try and explain the whole thing to her parents.

How much they would hate him!

He was feeling the wit and stamina that awakeness had always held fading fast and he was honestly_ very_ afraid of loosing his head in the future meeting.

"_How many hours will I have been awake by **then**?" _he wondered, "_Nearly twenty-four? A whole day? Surely I won't make **any **sense by then!"_

Genuine worry had arrived.

Drake was as preoccupied with his own thoughts as he could be, but even he had noticed a certain growing restlessness in his step-father.

It was when one of the detectives was talking briefly of a file of drug-use they had found on Joe, that the middle aged man started to glance even more nervously about.

"Well, we found a list of the known names and aliases he used during the run of several drug schemes." James was saying (mostly for Drake's benefit) in his down-to-earth but still firm "FBI" voice.

He looked down quickly and began to read the names off a clip-board.

"Robert Polk, Timothy Fischer, George Boyd, Landis Grange and Burt_--_"

Suddenly Walter let out a choke and he looked _very prompted _to speak, as the boys looked at eachother, thinking of the significance of what had just been spoken.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen," he began, in a shaky voice: "For interrupting your conversation, but I feel I must say something."

Their father paused, biting his lip and going on as everyone drew their attentions to him.

"I... know I should have said thid earlier, but... _I actually _talked to Joe Parker over the telephone just a week or so prior to my sons' car accident."

Shock passed around the crowd along with several gasps, and Josh turned a _most_ stunned face to his Dad: "W_--_What are you _talking about?"_

Looking very uncomfortable, Walter shifted on his feet and placed his hands in his pockets.

He looked unsurely around and brought his voice down in to a low, blameworthy tone.

"Well, it was supposed it be a secret, but I think it might be a good thing to reveal, now."

Josh and his stepbrother were _very _anxious for him to go on, and confirm one idea that was now nagging at them, and Becker obviously sensed that, looking at the man and nodding: "Please go on."

A confession is always easier if you atleast have a decent place to _sit _to talk (like on soft couch or in a close circle on the middle of a bed) but with not a seat in sight, Walter was forced to go on and forgo the comfort aspect.

"Drake, Christmas isn't so far from now, and I had told your Mother that I wanted to get you something special, _just from me._"

"Oh!" Audrey agreed: "I remember! You thought you should start thinking early about what the perfect gift would be, and _I said _that perhaps if you listened around carefully to the boys, they might give you a clue about what would suit."

"Exactly! So... for the next day I sat around, just listening very closely to what you said." Walter replied turning and indicating the two teenagers.

"But, you both were so busy and quiet that I learned very little, except that you seemed to want nothing. I got discouraged and didn't try to listen so hard."

He caught his breath and slowly started to explain the next turn of events to all with hearing range.

"I was in the upper hall a few days later, getting some extra towels for your Mother, and I heard the sound of you guys talking. Your door was open wide, and even though I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I heard Drake lament over the fact that he no longer had a notebook full of songs he had written at twelve or thirteen."

"Yes! I remember looking for it and remarking that I must not have had it anymore like a lot of my stuff..." Drake murmured, still trying to piece together this oddly confusing puzzle.

"Well," the father sighed, "I began to wonder what you meant about all your 'old stuff' being gone, and I realized that your _old_ Dad still must have had it."

He blushed and wrung his hands, in embarrassment.

"I had become so determined to find the ideal present, and I knew how much you must have missed a lot of your childhood possessions, that I guess that's where I made my mistake."

All in a mad frenzy, his next statement fell out of his mouth, and then he was finished.

"I found his name and called him on the phone to ask him to send the toys and everything back to us. It was obvious that he was drunk when I called, but I thought I'd try and talk to him anyway. When I told him who I was and asked him my question, he got extremely angry and screamed that he didn't care if he never saw... 'never saw any of Drake Parker's stuff again' and that he'd get it out of the house that very day."

All was very, very still and for a long time no one spoke of moved, shocked but mostly lost in each of their thoughts.

And even stranger was the fact that _Drake _was the first to speak.

His tone was quiet and steady but amazed when he began, straightening it slowly out in his own head.

"That was the box... the box of my stuff, Josh! That's... that's how it got there. Walter, _you_ sent for it! Our hiding it was silly... we should have just told someone. This whole thing may have been avoided if..."

His sentence trailed off in to silence and Josh took it away, himself, taking his brother's arm in surprise.

"And if 'Landis Grange' was one of his aliases, then it was _his_ note on the box."

"But_--_ but it can't be _his _note! It wasn't in his handwriting. It was scratchy and wild, and his was always so clean..." Drake replied slower, his face clouding in confusion.

Barlow snapped up and suddenly exclaimed: "But, yes, it _was his note!"_

"What do you mean? How do you know about the_--_"

Drake had no time to finish before James went on, to explain.

"An officer searching your home today found a note on the floor of your garage before we all came here, and gave it to me. It said something about 'keeping the front up' or...?"

"Well, do you have it with you?" Mindy jumped in, clearly agitated at the delay in solving this mystery.

Jonathan seemed just as excited as James.

"Here!" he replied, fishing a paper from his black coat's pocket: "You gave it to me to keep a hold of, because it seemed to involve itself in the case."

Everyone rushed around to look intently upon the words, and instantly both Detectives' faces lit up in understanding.

"Look..." Barlow murmured as all read the words:

**Walter**_--_

**This is what you sent for.**

**Hope you have a good place**

**to hide it**_--_ **police have been**

**searching for it ever since I**

**heard you wanted it.**

**Keep the front up**_--_

**Landis**

"I understand it all now," Josh said, suddenly smiling a smile of comprehension and looking his brother in the eyes: "The reason why you didn't recognize this writing was because he was _drunk_ when he wrote it. See how scribbly it looks? That's the whole key! Drunk enough to think it was back to the time when he used to import drugs for his partners. He began to get interested in hurting you some more when the request for you was made, and when we hit him in the wreck by some freak accident, he transformed in to a madman. Now do you see why it's so confused?"

"The... the wording! I get it! He mixed up the past with the fact that Walter wanted my junk shipped back. That's why used his alias and mentioned the police searching for it."

The boy sighed and sunk back against the wall, out of weakness.

"I_--_I can't believe how _crazy this is!"_

That was all he could manage to say, and he sighed again in his shaky manner, closing his eyes.

All at once, a deep, remorse filled voice roused him and he looked up to see the perplexed face of his stepfather.

"Drake... he came after you because I reminded him of you. ...If I hadn't been so selfishly obsessed with getting you a gift worthy of your fondness, then I wouldn't have come so close to loosing what I care about_--_ you and your brother."

He hung his head and shook it softly, at last adding: "I'm sorry. ...I am the one to blame for all of this misery."

Audrey felt tears well in her eyes (as well as Mindy did) as she watched, because to see the meek man so sorry for his stepson, was enough to do so.

The next moments following were quiet and stabbingly slow, but at last, the brunette teen's shoulders dropped their stiff posture and he sighed once more. It was a gentle sigh, quiet unlike the sad ones he had breathed out through this day_--_and maybe for a minute, he had forgotten all the aches he held in his heart.

Finally resting his arms over Walter's shoulders and pulling him in to a hug, he talked just above a whisper.

"You know, if you asking for a bunch of my old things back made him want to kill me, Dad, I don't think of it as any of _your doing._"

Bringing a smile to his lips of relief, Drake hugged him a little more.

"Don't sweat it, now."

But as he looked on from a distance of a few feet, Walter's son was smiling a smile for a whole other reason.

"_Drake... Drake called him Dad." _thankful tears threatened him, but he couldn't get rid of the smile as his thoughts rode on.

"_He's **is** your real Dad, now. The man who hurt you so badly could never be. Thank you... thank you for giving Drake another Dad." _he lifted his eyes to the ceiling and thought: "_The only true Dad he's ever known._"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Even if the shadow of Anita's feelings hadn't completely disappeared from Drake's countenance, and even though the worry wouldn't leave the back of his mind, the next hour was noticeably less miserable.

Maybe it was the relief of solving the mystery of the box, or maybe he was just getting too tired to feel his misery anymore.

Not to say he wasn't psychically worn down. Infact, he was getting very weary of standing, and had once again taken a seat (along with Josh and Mindy) on the floor, while they all waited for the Doctors in the next room to come and give their report on how the girl was.

Audrey and Walter didn't ask about what had happened within the room between Drake and Anita, because they didn't want to trouble any of the three teens, but by the way he had acted after he came out, they knew she had rejected him, and surely the result on her end hadn't been good, either.

The Mother stood just behind her brown eyed son, gently rubbing his shoulders every now and then, leaning against the wall as they all waited.

And waited...

And waited.

Drake had begun to worry, because though nobody came out of the room, several nurses and one man carrying a medical bag _went in._

At length, all was mostly quiet, but Josh (who was feeling the pressure as well as Drake), spoke up.

"Detective Becker."

The man looked up from his wristwatch and nodded: "Yes, Mister Nichols?"

"How much longer are we expected to wait here?" it was obvious he was referring more to his brother than himself, as he went on honestly: "It _is _well past two o' clock and sitting here on the floor until dawn is not my greatest desire."

The detective blanched and cleared his throat, trying to respond with an answer to show how professional he was: "...I do apologize for the wait, but I'm sure it will end at any moment. Until then, the only thing we can do _is wait_."

This only added to Josh's irritations and he thought about saying so, but when he remembered his earlier outburst at the man, he bit his lip and slipped in to quiet.

At last, when they were all just about ready to yell at Becker, the sound of the doorknob of the door behind them turning filled their ears and when it opened, Doctor Reilly emerged, along with the nurses and nameless other Doctor that Drake had seen going in earlier.

The doctor's face looked very stern and after he spoke a few indiscernible words to his colleges they departed down the hall, and he turned slowly back to the family.

"Doctor Reilly_--_ is... is she alright? It's been so long since we've heard anything and_--_and so many people came in, but nobody came out to tell us about..."

Drake (who was greatly relieved that the Doctor was here), had begun to ask his question but suddenly let it fade in to silence as he caught the drastically hard stare that he was given in return.

"Drake Parker," his voice was rough and much harsher than what he expected as he finally filled the quiet: "She is very well in body, and is still alright, no thanks to you and your hasty words."

His eyes glared so deep that Drake could almost feel the icy holes boring through him.

"You were very ignorant to speak like that to a recovering person. Depression can hurt the recovery more than a lot of things. Because of what you said, she has been crying her heart out (which is possibly very bad for her delicate condition)_--_and until her parents arrive, I'm afraid there's not much anyone can do to console her."

"I--I..."

The boy's heart skipped and he stepped a stride backward, looking for any words to say while feeling the taunt of oncoming hurt twinge through his middle.

"How you could do such a thing to her after she has been in the very throes of such mental shock, I'll never understand."

Everyone was completely stunned over the man's strange attitude and even though Walter and Audrey had become quiet angry, they couldn't manage to speak either.

At last, a strong and unwavering voice lifted from the group and a warm hand clutched Drake's shoulder.

"Doctor Reilly, I don't know what you mean by that, but Drake never meant to do anything wrong at all," Josh had said, coming forward and shaking his head: "I honestly don't think anyone is more 'depressed' than he is. I mean, we _are_ talking about what his own father did, here... it's not a happy thing."

"If that is _your _assessment, young man, then perhaps--"

Walter cut the indignant speaker off: "I apologize for asking," he frowned and then went on to pose a very good question: "But why should Drake be held responsible for her set back? I'm quite certain he said nothing to her but apology and the truth. ...And the truth, I'm told is stronger than any medicine."

Strange as it may seem, meek Walter, the weatherman had somehow silenced the insults of the strong-willed medic, and had even made Drake himself feel less guilty.

"I... I_--_I see. ... And I believe that I have to look in on another patient now. I'll see you all later, then."

With no more said but these plain words, he was gone in an instant and the boy in question shook his head, saying only a simple: "Thanks, Dad."

It was understood all around that little crowd that Walter was not as stupid as he seemed sometimes.

Becker and Barlow led them all around a corner, in to a conference room in which stood a large, U-shaped table, with padded chairs lining it all around. It was certainly not as nice as the lounge on the lower level had been, but it _was_ somewhere to sit, and most importantly there were both a coffee pot and a high-caffeine soda machine standing in the corner.

Drake despised coffee (unlike Mindy and his parents) and claimed that it would turn his teeth the color of leather, but he knew he had to have something to keep him up and he and Josh guessed that twelve ounces of Mocha Cola might do just as well.

He tried to drink as much as possible, but he was so exhausted and sick-feeling that each sip seemed to taste like drinking an equal amount of motor oil.

And it didn't seem to be helping with his energy, anyway.

He sighed at thinking about this and spoke in a whisper: "Josh... I'm so tired. I need to keep awake, but when I try to make my eyes stay open, they start to go all crossed."

Josh leaned close to answer and whispered back.

"Do you want me to pinch you?" he suggested.

"No," came the soft reply: "That won't work, either_--_I already hurt all over and even _that's_ not doing the job."

"It'll be three a.m. in another forty five minutes or so and Anita's parents will get here not long after."

"But that's maybe a whole other hour and a half I have to sit here in this horrible chair," he groaned in a low return: "And Josh, I have never longed more for a bed in my life. ...Even though I know I wouldn't sleep much at all once I laid down, the mattress would be so nice."

Josh looked up to watch his face as he said these things, and his worry for him certainly increased.

He seemed more fatigued, and paler than he had been all night. And when Josh gazed in to his charming eyes, he realized even _they_ had even lost their famous glitter. It was not only the tone of his face that was pale though_--_ it was 'pale' more in a sense of his entire self... his body _and_ spirit.

"You _look_ tired..." he found himself saying, as he worriedly reached up to lay a hand on his arm.

"...You're frowning_--_do I look that horrible?"

"You don't look 'horrible' at all. Just... just really weak."

"I am." he sighed, resting his head on the table as Josh took away his hand: "...But I just have to stop being that way."

Two other troubled pairs of eyes were watching Drake from across the way, perhaps even more intently than his brother was.

The police (Becker, Barlow and another two officers) were asking Audrey and Walter questions about Joe Parker, but though they answered as best as they could, they weren't listening with _all_ their power.

Mindy had drifted to sleep for a moment with her chin in her hand and elbow resting on the table, and continued to nap for a few minutes while her boyfriend conversed with his brother.

"Mindy, wake up," his kind voice was saying a moment later, as she stirred and shook her head.

"...Oh, Josh. I'm sorry. I just slipped right off. It's okay, I'll keep alert by myself. I don't want you to have to keep _two _people up."

"That's more than fine. But look, Minds, you have to be tired and now that you've seen that I'm fine and Anita's fine, why don't you go on home? There's no reason you have to stay, now." Josh smiled, patting her shoulder.

"Really? ...I mean, are you sure you can hold it down, here by yourself?" her tone was reluctant and she raised her brows, as if to clear her sleepy vision.

"'Course I can. And_--_and anyway, I'm not alone. Mom and Dad are here now and we can all three take care of everything."

"Well," she began, nodding carefully and pulling her sweater around her shoulders: "I think I _should_ go then. I'm going to need some sleep, 'cause I was thinking about taking little Miss Megan to the mall and getting her out from under foot for a while tomorrow. ...That is, if you're parents wouldn't mind."

Josh's face lit up with thankfulness and he stood with her: "Oh my gosh, that would be such a help. I'm sure they wouldn't 'mind' at all. Thanks, Mindy."

He leaned in to shyly peck a kiss on her cheek before finishing: "But for now you just go home and rest."

"Alright, Josh." she smiled, gathering her purse under her arm and turning to slide from behind her chair.

Drake was too dazed to take much notice of the two rising, and until he heard his name, he hadn't paid any attention.

"Drake!"

"Huh?"

"I just wanted you to know that I am actually sorry for you. You'll be in my thoughts."

Mindy saying such a thing highly surprised him, but he felt his abhorrence for her fade for a minute as he nodded a genuine, "Thank you." and watched her turn to his parents.

It was explained to Audrey and Walter that she was going home for the night, and (argued, but finally agreed on) that an hour or two after Megan had been returned home by Grammy, Mindy would take her for a little "girl's day out".

Audrey especially thanked her, and after hugging her and wishing her a safe trip home (as well as everyone else did... except Drake), the young girl opened the door and began to make her way out of the building.

...How much the tired amber haired boy longed to make that trip, as he once again thought of the dreaded event_--_the arrival of Anita's parents.

Josh stood by Audrey a moment, telling her more about what Mindy had planned for Megan; but afterward, (as Barlow moved over to talk Drake away from sleep), she pulled him closer to where she and her husband sat and asked plainly: "Has Drake mentioned anything to you about being tired?"

"He looks near dead." Walter agreed, just as worried.

Josh only nodded, telling them briefly of Drake's earlier complaints and then telling one of his own theories:

"I think the idea of having to face her Mom and Dad is really, _really_ freaking him out. He knows they always liked him, but he also knows how protective of their daughter they are. When I mentioned that they'd be here in another hour or so, he started looking so sick."

"Oh, Josh, I hadn't even thought about that..." his stepmother murmured, placing one hand on his forearm and her other on her husband's: "Walter, he must be terrified."

"Josh, we don't want to know it all but what _did _happen between the girl and our Drake, earlier?" his father sighed.

"It wasn't so good, actually. He blurted out something about how he was sorry over what his father had done to her, and I stopped him... but then she started asking for him to leave, and then told him to go away." he replied, trying to sum it up as best as he could and then adding: "And with Doctor Reilly being so harsh to him, I can't imagine how scared he is of her parents."

Both parents seemed to be in deep contemplation for a long time, and Becker moved over to stand next to them.

He leaned down and looked at Walter, then Audrey and at last Josh and spoke quietly: "I couldn't help but hear your talk about that young man."

He motioned discreetly toward Drake and an understanding smile suddenly formed on his lips: "And he's too tired. ...Take him home."

"...But, he can't go home," Walter began: "Anita's mother and father should be here in an hour and_--"_

"And what? He's afraid, he's sleepy and he's liable to say something he doesn't mean in his state. I think in this case, a few hours away to patch feelings might help both sides_--_both him, _and _the Prescotts. ..._And, _as chief detective on this case, I give him full permission to go home for a while. My officers have _already_ questioned him to death."

Josh let out a grateful breath and said slowly: "Officer, I think I misjudged you."

"Thank you very much, Mister Nichols." the kind smile returned, followed by thoughtful stillness.

"Alright, look Josh_--_your Father and I are more than rested (we got up very late today), and we should stay here. There are places to sleep, if we get too tired, and the cafeteria is open all night. You take you poor brother home and do your best to comfort him."

Walter spoke up: "Exactly my thoughts. It would be wrong to leave Anita here without anyone she knows, even if she is too upset to visit with us. And when her parents do arrive later, it would be a gentler affair to have _us_ explain the main facts of what went on. That way, when you and Drake come again later, they will already know and he won't have to tell them."

"But_--_but it feels so wrong leaving you guys up here." Josh protested, for a moment.

"I know, sweetie, but you brother needs your love and help more than we do, now. ...Do you think you can take care of him?"

He paused, thinking and then he began to softly nod: "Of course. It would only be right for me to help."

"Thank you, so much, son." his Dad said, standing and taking his shoulder: "Now we can rest assured that he'll be fine."

"You're welcome, and it's no problem." a little smile came to the edge of his lips: " ...Comforting Drake kind of just comes naturally for me, you know? It maybe sound stupid, but I almost get a kick out of letting him know that he's gonn'a be okay."

"That's because you love him, Josh. I thank heavens that I have you now, to be there when I can't be."

Audrey's soft words brought tears to her own eyes and she quickly brushed them away, sniffling: "Ah, now there I go again. Go tell him the relieving news while I get a hold of myself."

"Hey, buddy."

The warm, gentle words made Drake jump, looking a little startled as he gazed up to see who had spoken.

He met the soft green-blue eyes of his brother and managed a: "Hi. 'Came to wake me up again?"

"Nah, not anymore. Come on, I'm going to take you home." Josh set his warm hand on his wrist and smiled a reply.

"W_--_what? We_--_we can't go _home_, Anita's parents are comi..." Drake was suddenly more awake than he had been for hours.

"Mom and Dad have decided to take care of them. You're going back to that soft place to rest that you want so badly."

"...Josh, did _you_ do this?"

Drake's own hand rested softly on his brother's arm as he stood shakily up and looked in to his light eyes.

"I told them how tired you were, and told them I'd make sure to get you home and take the best care of you." he answered, honestly.

"But you don't _have to--_Josh, I can stay awake; I can tell Anita's parents. I could do it if I tried; I'm not _that bad_ off." Drake began to reason, obviously amazed at his offer and yet unsure, absentmindedly squeezing Josh's arm with emotion.

"Look, Drake, I promised I would watch over you, but not just because I wanted to do the right thing or obey Mom and Dad. ...You're my brother and I care about you, and I _worry even more _about you."

Josh paused, feeling a little twinge of tears gathering in the corners of his eyes, and after releasing a smile, he rubbed his shoulder.

At length Drake was silent, fighting back his own tears and letting his heart skip with reassurance instead of more pain, but at last, he steadied his voice and sighed a thankful: "Josh... Let's go home."


	34. Closer than a Brother

**Summary: **

_Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital because of Josh; a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revenge, perhaps even murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart because of old heartbreaks. Read and review it!_

**Disclaimer: **

_I fall to my knees, screamin' Nickelodeon, please--let me own Drake and Josh... but they won't._

**Note to Readers: **

_Oh. My. GOODNESS! This is the last chapter. I can't believe I'm typing that! I'm sad about finishing it, but I'm happy because I already have a killer idea for a new comedy Drake and Josh fan fiction story! Wow. So, I guess I want to thank all the people who have left me reviews and read my story! It makes me feel so good when I know I have readers out there who enjoy my stuff. And of course, I want to thank Drake and Josh! Ha-ha, I love those guys. THANKS YOU EVERYBODY! You rock! Somebody needs to come up with a way to type the "rockin" hand signal... I hope you liked my story very much, thanks for reading._

**Story:** _"Party in a Box"_

**Chapter: **_ "In the End"; Thirty - Four _

**Written By: **_Morgan (aka Ginger)_

**Extras:   
**_Italics in "quotation marks" _symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

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Drake tugged on the black-colored door's handle and waited for Josh to unlock it for him. Once the car was open, both of them got hurriedly inside and locked it back... the mostly dark parking garage at almost three in the morning wasn't the best place in the world and the boys were very glad for the safety of their parent's car.

Walter had originally parked it in the regular parking lot, but after nightfall, had given one of the younger police officers the keys so he could move it to the parking garage. The only trouble was, the officer hadn't made any note of what level he had parked it on and so Josh and his brother had had to search for it for at least fifteen minutes before discovering it on the third level from the top.

As Drake sat back against the seat, he breathed in deeply and caught the piney scent that the car had always possessed. Though at times, the odor got a little annoying, at this moment it actually calmed him considerably. Or if not the scent itself, just being able to experience something familiar_--_not so foreign and odd as the things he had endured today.

Josh closed his eyes as well and leaned back for a moment, thinking _himself_ that the aroma was soothing. After sighing, he leaned forward to turn the keys and crank it up.

Soon he and his step brother were buckled in and starting down the long, winding trail leading out of the building.

Drake wasn't usually claustrophobic, but for some reason the dim light and the low-slung roofs in this place were making him almost sick, and he shuddered, snapping his eyes closed.

Josh was actually for the most part, the more claustrophobic of the two, but (as odd situations tend to do) now roles seemed to be reversed and it was barely bothering him.

"Ya' alright?" he asked his counterpart, after noticing his behavior from the corner of his own eye.

"Yeah, fine. Just feelin' a little closed in. I'll be fine." came his quick reply, as he kept his eyes shut fast.

"We only have like four floors to go and then we'll be out a' here. But... I do wish they would make the ceilings just a _little _higher."

The two boys _did_ manage to make it out of the building pretty quickly, if by some mercy for Drake's sake, and they began to ride quietly down the road leading out to the San Diego interstate, thankfully leaving St. Schneider's hospital behind.

Josh expected that the hum of the motor and the gentle vibration of the car might just put his weak brother to sleep, and when he didn't make a single sound for ten minutes in the dark, he assumed he must have been correct.

But when a soft voice spoke, he realized he was wrong.

"Hey, Josh?"

"What is it, bro?" Josh replied (still a little surprised that he was awake) looking over and watching the street lights palely illuminate his face, for a moment.

"…My head hurts." he spoke, slowly swallowing and laying his temple against the car window.

"Is it your cut from the stairs?" Josh asked quickly, as a flash of concern drew across his face and he went on: "Because if it it's bothering you, I can just pull over at the next Zippy Mart and get something to put on it."

"No, no," he answered, letting out the closest thing to a chuckle that he could muster, "Not psychically_--_I mean, not really. I just feel like... in a little while, the impact of all this is going to hit me, and I'm going to totally break down."

Josh glanced at him again, expecting to see a feeble and nearly-in-tears form of his brother, but instead met the gaze of clear, composed chocolate brown eyes. Leaving that horrible hospital had obviously improved his state somewhat in the last ten minutes, (or atleast postponed his breakdown), but Josh was saddened to see that the glitter was still absent from his expression.

"I'm sure you're not going to be as bad off as you think you are. ...And anyway," he took on hand from the steering wheel and reached over to pat his shoulder: "If you ever had a 'breakdown', I'd be right there to pick up the pieces."

Drake let a smile peek from the corner of his mouth and he slowly shook his head: "How do you do that?"

"Whadda'ya mean?"

"I mean, 'How do you do that?'. ...How are you _always_ ready to help me? What possesses you to be so sweet and supportive?" he answered, in a plain tone and with a faded grin.

Josh smiled and stared at the road ahead, feeling a flattered and slightly embarrassed blush rise in his cheeks, and he answered in a modest voice.

"I dunno. I guess I just like to help you 'cause... well I don't know! Just 'cause your cool, and you've been badly treated, and--well, I guess it's just a brother thing. I like it."

All was quiet in warm sentiment for a little bit, but then Drake managed to drop enough of his depression to smile, and he reached quickly over to muss his brother's thick black hair: "I love ya', Josh."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The dark eyed boy had slipped in to a state so close to sleep by the time that they reached the entrance to their neighborhood, that Josh's voice sounded far off when he said: "Well, looks like we're home."

He sat up straight and felt a sigh escape him as he looked around, watching the trees blur past as they turned in to their street.

They slowed to maybe ten miles an hour and both seemed to hold their breath as the sight of their home appeared before them.

The front yard was completely bathed in the black of night, and only by the bit of moonlight that was shimmering down, was Josh able to pull squarely in to the drive with out running off in to the yard.

Not one light in the whole house was on, and because the garage door was closed and locked, Josh had to stop in the driveway and park the vehicle there.

"Wow... we're home. _Finally _back home." Drake murmured, and the boys must have just sat in the car for an entire minute before Josh replied:

"We had better go inside and try to turn on a few lights. It's so dark."

With that said, both reached to push their doors open and get out.

A cool, sixty-degree September breeze rushed upon them the instant they stood up, and chilled them, because neither had a jacket on at the time.

Josh locked both car doors (how he did, one must wonder because it was almost too dark to see your own legs below you), and started to step around the automobile.

Suddenly, a yelp of "Ah!" and a sudden, heavy crunch of autumn leaves made him stop and he quickly exclaimed in to the night: "Drake?"

"Oww..." came the voice not far from him: "I tripped and fell."

Josh whipped his cell phone from his pocket and opened it, using the light of the screen to see by.

He looked down and saw where the edge of the driveway ended and there, in the grass beside it was a thick, deep furrow where a heavy car's tire had sunk in. Not far away, Drake was sitting up on his elbows and trying to shake the dust from himself.

"Oh! Man, are you okay? Did you hurt anything?" Josh gasped, hurrying over to him (avoiding the ditch) and dropping to his knees to help him up.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright_--_just a bruise on my arm, I think."

His brother laced an arm around him and brought him to his feet, then brushing him off a little and linking arms with him, to ensure no more nasty falls as they made their way back to the drive and up toward the porch.

Drake had kicked several bits of ripped out notebook paper and trash as he walked with Josh, and he was very glad that the reporters who had caused such garbage had left long ago.

The two teenagers mounted the couple steps together and Josh pulled the right key to the dead bolt lock. The glass on the front entry was still broken, but heavy plywood boards were nailed behind the shards, to prevent the wind from blowing through, in to the house.

As Drake surveyed the smashed glass, memories of what had taken place here earlier filled his head and his mood switched in to quiet and even disheartened.

Josh fished the key out of the lock and reached down to swing the door open wide, loosing his brother's arm from his and walking in first.

Drake was in the dark for a moment, because Josh had gone further in to the living room to turn on a light, but he felt his way past the open door and stepped inside.

A lamp across the room came on and flooded the entire space with a yellow glow. The brother's eyes had to have a moment to adjust, but after that, it was much better than being in the dark.

Drake glanced around the room, now able to see what a mess had been made in the previous struggle.

It made him sick to have to look at, but somehow he couldn't help it_--_things had happened so fast before that he hadn't had time to see his surroundings, and now it was just too interesting.

Books lay scattered on the floor at the far end of the room where the bookshelf sat empty; nick-knacks and baskets had been flung from their places on tables and counters. One tiny lamp had been thrown to the ground in the dining room and a chair at the table was teetering precariously against the wall. Had the wall not been there, it would most definitely have fallen all the way.

Of course, the police had not left _everything_ as it had been.

The couch had most obviously been professionally cleaned by a furniture expert (who Becker had been responsible for hiring) and was rid of any blood stains that had been there when the boys saw it last. Though they thought it wouldn't feel right for a while to sit there, they were still very glad it had been washed.

Josh had been moving about the room, and suddenly he called his brother out from his daze, in a quizzical and slightly odd voice: "Drake? L--look at this! Come look..."

The boy co-operated and walked several feet to where the other teenager stood, by the dining room wall.

"What?"

"You're not going to believe what I found_--_look at the wall." he answered, shaking his head in disbelief, as Drake turned his attention to it.

At first glance, he thought what he saw to only be a light smudge of dirt against the greyish paint, but when he looked closer, he found himself as dumbfounded as Josh.

"It's... it's a blood-print!"

"Yeah, it is! Look-- it's not a hand-print, there aren't any lines from the palm on it." his friend said, glancing at him.

"No, it's not a hand print... it was a print from my side."

Josh looked up in confusion and let out a "Huh?" before Drake explained.

He turned and stood with his back against the spot and said: "He had me penned like this, after he had dented my side. My shirt must have slipped up a little and the cut slid against the wall."

The darker haired boy's brows now knit together and a storm appeared in his eyes: "Wait, you didn't tell me you had a cut there."

Drake shook his head, stepping back in to the room and laying a finger against the side of his ribs: "I didn't want to bother you with it. It's just a little one, right here. ...It isn't much."

"Look, when we get settled, let me look at it_--_it's not good to let those things go un-treated."

He walked back to where Drake was and switched on the normal lights, then turning to him and sighing.

"How do you feel now, anyway?"

Drake broke another one of his stares at the room and glanced up, with saddish eyes.

"...A little sick."

The blue-eyed boy's heart ached for him and he rested his arm carefully over his shoulder, looking straight across in to his sensitive face.

"Why don't you come on upstairs? We'll turn on some lights, you can change from those clothes in to something comfortable and I think I'll throw together a couple cans of soup for us before we rest. Sound cool?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. ...Thanks Josh." Drake finally said, breathing a deep breath and producing a weak smile.

Josh dimpled a warm nod back to him in return and dropped his arm to walk with him in to the hall.

Turning lights on as they went, they proceeded slowly up the stairs.

Drake's tired mind seemed never to run short of flashing memories of the earlier battle, in each place in the house that they went. He found himself remembering how terrified he was when he ran up and down these same steps that morning, and with each vision his heart leapt in thought.

They came in to the upper hall and once again flicked on a lamp, finding themselves at the doorway to their bedroom.

It was strangely peaceful in the room when they entered and the yellow-gold light of their lamps filled the space. Drake could not rid the recollections of hiding in their wardrobe closet from his mind, but somehow being back in the room he shared with his brother made him feel cozy and almost better.

With the thought of being in the closet, Drake strode to it and opened it to take out the loafer shoes he had taken off while inside.

Josh leaned down to pick up a pile of papers, binders and notebooks that the man had tossed off of their desk angrily, and set them back in place.

"Ah. It looks like there'll be a lott'a cleaning up to do." he said, but after catching the brunette's worried glance, he continued, walking to him: "But there will be plenty of time to do that all later. ...Look, I'm going to go downstairs and call Mom and Dad and let them know we're home. I'll be back in a few minutes. Will you be okay?"

Drake nodded forlornly and managed to climb up his bed's ladder as Josh left.

He set himself down on the mattress and untied his shoes, slipping them off as a growing feeling of sadness came over him.

He sat thinking for a long time, and thought about changing in to some pajamas, but only gave up the idea.

How could he do such normal things when he was so messed up? He felt like he would burst with emotion, but yet he couldn't even bring himself to cry. His heart ached so badly that the sensation literally ran down his arms and he sat back against the wall, staring at the comforter blanket.

He was tired. Why couldn't he sleep? He didn't want to sleep... but he didn't want to be awake, either.

He was in what may have been one of the deepest kinds of hopelessness that he had ever experienced.

He reached up and flipped off the overhead light, by the switch next to his bed, and let the lamps give all the light. He felt really sad, and right then, too much light only made it worse.

"Ohh-kay," Josh came back through the door a few moments later: "I talked to them and told them we got home. They told me to tell you that they love you very much."

His voice was more serious and he said: "Anita's parents finally arrived. They were very, very upset but glad she was not hurt worse."

Drake whimpered: "Did... did they say anything about me? Are they... mad?"

"I don't know. I'm sure their not mad."

Everything was very, very quiet in the room and finally Drake murmured in a despairing and low voice, almost to himself: "...Oh, poor Anita."

He lifted his eyes to Josh who was now by the ladder of his loft bed and tightened his throat to choke back his feelings.

"Josh, _what do I do? _...She--she _really _hates me."

Those words were so sad and lonely that Josh couldn't help but scramble up the rungs to sit beside him and touch his arm in warm care: "No she doesn't... she's as sad as you are."

"Because I... I made her that way."

The tears were gathering in his eyes now and he wanted them to stop, but they wouldn't.

"_You're such a wimp. No regular boy cries. You're so stupid._"

"I'm so stupid... I hate myself. I can't believe how horrible I have been to--to _you _and Mom and Dad lately, and... and especially her."

He hadn't even really realized he had spoken what he was thinking, and he continued to speak his mind.

"She has _perfect reason _to never want to see me again. I'm the son of a terrible man who lives to hurt people. I'm _his son,_ and I caused the pain she's having to endure now. I don't want him and I don't want to hurt anybody like he's hurt _me, _because I know how deep it can cut you. ...But I'm so sorry! I'm _so sorry..."_

Drake shook his head again and looked away, trying to stop his watery eyes as he finished in a detested voice:

"And now... now I'm so pathetic that I'm _crying_..."

He let out a disgusted, cheerless laugh at himself and buried his head in his arms, as he drew his legs up in front of himself.

He was quiet for so long that it was beginning to cause worry.

But then finally, to Josh's relief, his shoulders began to shake and his deep breaths told his brother he was sobbing.

Josh wanted to scream a thousand things to him at once: how he wasn't pathetic or stupid; how it wasn't his fault; or how he loved him and would never imagine anyone good, hating him.

But not one of those sentences would have done well to stand on it's own, and he simply couldn't preach to him _now..._ so he just moved as close as he could and wrapped his arm around him, smoothing his messy hair carefully and saying nothing at all.

"Oh... Josh..." the scratchy, muffled, tired words came, moments later: "Do you understand me at all? No one else does. Do you get what's going on?"

Josh sighed a long sigh and whispered softly to him: "Absolutely. ...Isn't that what brothers always do_--_understand?"

With a pause, Drake slowly drew his tear-streaked face from his arms and looked at his closest friend's face, amazed at his selfless nature and undying, steady encouragement for him. It seemed to always be welling inside of him, and he was always giving all he had.

The brown eyed boy's voice steadied and he gathered his brows together in bewilderment.

"...You are the most incredible person I know. I heard you say you wanted to be like me, when you were talking to Grammy on the phone." a tear trickled down his cheek: "But... no. Don't be me. Josh, you be _who you are,_ because who you are is considerate and wonderful. I want to be like _you._"

His bluish eyes filled with his own tears and he reached forward to hug his brother, not feeling he should ever let go of such a sweet boy.

Both cried some, seeming to completely forget the notion of being "pathetic" and when Drake seemed too drained to bother holding in his feelings, he sat back and let himself cry, occasionally wiping his face off with a dry sleeve.

...And when he ran out of sleeve, Josh tried to use his own (unsuccessfully), until he had the idea to grab the tissue box from the floor.

Drake released a worn-out chuckle at Josh's offer of his sleeves as he tried to duck away from his brother, he sniffed back more tears.

To say the least, the next hour or two were filled to the brim with tears, tissues, hugs and serious conversations.

It was obvious Drake was convinced he would always be plagued with a suffering heart, and though Josh did his best to persuade him otherwise, he couldn't do much to ease the pain of the situation.

For sure, the auburn haired teen age boy's heart was slowly being broken... and it hurt Josh almost equally as bad to watch it happen.

_"All because of **him**... It is all Joe Parker's fault. How can one man cause so much abuse? It's only evil. Nothing beside. How can he bear living with himself for one more moment? How can he let himself live on this earth after everything he's done to innocent people?"_

Josh's thoughts seemed to echo through them both then, and they wondered what they would do next. What _was next? _Nothing? Was the future empty, holding only school-paper interviews and questions of what had happened?

How could they even start to explain? The paper-readers and gossipers only wanted to know about a murder... not about the most important lesson that had been taught. The two boys _couldn't _put in to words the kind of evil they had discovered, but how much they thought others should learn it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Drake sat against his pillows and looked very, very weak, but yet insomnia seemed to have found him.

Four forty five came around and still he was awake. He cried a few tears on and off, but for the most part he was too despondent and drained to cry anymore.

"Josh?" he asked, in an almost completely faded voice, after a long silence.

"Hmm?" he murmured, beginning to feel very sleepy himself.

A dark, deep voice spoke.

"Have you ever been so depressed that you didn't want to be able to feel anymore? Like you don't want to do anything--stay awake or sleep, or _anything?_"

"Not for a long time. ...Is that how you feel, Drake?" Josh laid a hand on his wrist and frowned.

"...Yes." he replied, at last, with a look sadder than any tears had been: "I think so. ...And I don't know if I'll ever want to even live again."

Josh's heart throbbed and he moved up to the head of the bed, to sit beside him again.

"You have to 'live'. You can't just give up on _everything..._"

"Why? ...I'll never be happy. He took her away to give me a final blow, and it worked. ...He won."

Now Josh's blue eyes were full of worried indignance: "No! No he _hasn't! _You don't even know what you're saying. He--he--he's horrible and heartless and full of evil, Drake, and he _can't win _over you."

"Then why am I so empty? Why is my heart so broken? Why does my girlfriend hate me? ..._Why don't _I want to go on?" he spoke, sinking in to the pillow behind him and a look of pain creeping over his brow.

Josh wanted to cry and find a way to make him fixed, very much, but before he could even try to come up with the words, the cell phone on the blanket next to the two distraught boys rang.

Horrible "what-ifs" rushed in to their heads and Josh snatched it up putting it on speaker phone, saying a "Hello?" before he could think about clearing his tearful tone.

_Something has happened to Anita..._

They both were supposing the exact same thing, and it scared them very badly.

"Josh? This is Doctor Thorton."

A groan of anxiety escaped Drake when he heard the name: "What is it? What went wrong, Doctor Thorton?"

"Drake? I'm very glad your there. I thought--"

"Please, sir, why have you called? Is something wrong with our friend?" Josh exclaimed, too afraid to wait for an explanation.

"No. But she is why I have called. I didn't think either of you would still be awake at this hour, but she wanted me to try anyway." the doctor said, calming most fears.

"What do you mean 'she wanted you to try'? Try what?" Drake's heart was racing ahead now and he felt a little like he couldn't get a breath.

"Miss Prescott has put in a special request to speak with you over the telephone, Mister Parker. She fears you have misunderstood something... but I'll let her tell you. She is very tired, so she can't talk long."

The physician's unbelievable words sunk in and Drake sat up straight, demanding: "Talk? ...Talk--to me?"

"Yes. Now here she is, I'll let her on now."

The brothers exchanged astonished glances and Drake moved to lean over Josh's shoulder: "...Hello?"

"Drake." her lovely voice (though coarse and weak in it's nature) came to his ears.

"Anita... hello! You--You're okay?"

"I needed to talk... I know you're tired. I'm sorry." her sentences were very short, but none the less entrancing to him.

"I'm not tired--not now. ...Please say what ever you want to, I'll listen." the shoulder he had pressed up against Josh's back began to quiver and Josh felt afraid _for him._

"I'm very weak, so I'm gonn'a say it quick as I can." with that, she paused and finally went on.

"I'm sorry for throwing you out earlier. I was out of my head with medicine, and I was afraid of thinking about... everything. You..."

A long pause followed: "You didn't say anything wrong, and I don't hate you."

The words rang in his head and his heart leapt in unbelief.

_I don't hate you..._

"How--how did you--why did you think that I--?"

He stuttered, unable to make a sentence.

"You mother talked to me." came the simple words, telling him everything.

"Drake, this _wasn't your fault._"

Drake seemed to melt in to a strength-less slab of butter against his brother's supporting back.

"I love you very much. I'm too tired to say more. I'll talk to you again tomorrow... I'll talk to you very soon. Think of me."

"I... _will_."

"Goodbye."

Josh hung up the phone a minute later, (after talking thankfully with Doctor Thorton), and was surprised to turn and find his brother weeping again, quietly.

"Woah, Woah... what's this?" he gathered his shaking hand up in his own and shoved the almost-empty tissue box toward him.

After trying to dry his eyes, Drake turned his face to him and sighed a choppy sigh, holding back a shivery chuckle.

"I'm sorry. I--I know I'm wimpy, but I can't help it. I've had so much shock and ...I'm just too glad."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The dark room began to fade in to a hue of blue, much like the moonlight but somehow very different. Black shadows slowly melted away, leaving the place bathed in a pale light. The entire house was quiet other than the occasional chirp of a group of crickets somewhere close by outside. It was this odd grey color all around for thirty minutes before the far-off hum of motors on the roads began and suddenly the colors began to change.

Saffron and red-orange mixed in to the blue and a soft, golden-pink ray of sunlight fell in a shaft from the window over the pale face of the figure laying gently on his back on the high loft-bed.

His cheeks were streaked in dry tears and by the way he was spread out, it was apparent he had fallen asleep suddenly, with out the strength to scoot under the covers.

A pile of tissues lay beside the bed, along with a book and a cell phone, and his arm was draped over the edge of the mattress, his hand lying limply on the floor near these items.

The little sun ray grew steadily brighter until at last, the boy's long, dark eyelashes flickered open.

Disoriented at first, he stared at the ceiling with burning eyes and suddenly it all came rushing back to his mind.

A song-bird in the distance seemed to wake as well, and within a moment it struck up the morning's very first song.

The teenager sat up against the mountain of pillows behind him (so the sun would leave his eyes) and let a deep, clear breath of air enter his lungs as the pain in his muscles appeared from nowhere.

He sent up a thankful prayer as his vision cleared completely and his gaze found his brother. He was lying across his own bed perhaps a distance of ten feet away and he was asleep. Strangely he wasn't wrapped in any covers himself, and Drake suddenly realized that Josh must have watched him until he had fallen to sleep, the night before and only _then_ fallen asleep himself.

The digital clock within view read 7:36am, and Drake figured they had slept for about two hours. He felt like he had been sleeping for more like five or six hours, and was amazed at the actual time. ...But maybe that was only because he had been so tired before that _any_ sleep felt great.

He laid thinking for a long, long time about some things. Then let out a groan and slowly sat up, feeling the full extent of his soreness as he began to climb gingerly down the cold, metal-piping ladder.

It must have only been sixty-five degrees in the house and the wood floor made his bare feet tingle. He shivered and pulled the long sleeves of his shirt down to his finger-tips as he walked across the now sunlit room, reminding himself to find some socks to put on soon.

A sigh escaped him and he reached Josh's bed, standing for a long minute just to look at him and think.

"_You're a good guy, Josh. You've been there the whole time, even if it meant neglecting yourself..."_

Drake felt a smile span his lips and he shook his head, reaching down to pull a blanket over him.

"You don't want to freeze, do you?" he hadn't meant for the words to come out aloud, but they had and there was no going back to silence them now.

All of the sudden, his blue eyes opened and seeing Drake he sat up, rubbing the sleep from them and asking in a concerned voice: "...What is it, Drake? Are you okay? Do you need me to get you anything?"

"Nah. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"No problem, it's fine."

It was quiet a moment and he went on: "Is it morning? I feel like I've been asleep for years... I think I had nightmares the whole time though." Josh said, with a yawn.

"I'm right there with you on the nightmare thing. It's only about seven-forty. You can sleep some more, I'll be fine just sitting by myself."

"Ahh nah, I'll just get up, even if just for a little while. I'm not very tired and the sunlight looks so cozy." but Josh suddenly frowned and shuddered, saying: "Woah... it's pretty chilly in here, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I know, but it's just 'cause the heat is turned off. I don't know, though. I kind'a like the cold_-- _it makes me feel like I can get a really good, kind'a' frosty breath." Drake replied, yawning himself, and sitting down on the edge of his brother's bed with a smile. "Then frosty it is!" exclaimed Josh, crossing his arms and then letting his brows furrow in glad confusion: "But, hey... what's gotten in to you? Look at yourself. You're actually smiling, you know!"

"I guess the sleep helped and..."

"And a phone call from a certain someone, last night, maybe?" Josh watched his step brother blush and then say: "Maybe that too."

Josh looked very contented and sat with his hands in his lap, finally looking up.

"Hey, why don't I go down and make those two mugs of soup I was talkin' about last night? I don't know about you, but I'm a little hungry."

_"Starved!" _Drake agreed, raising his eyebrows and standing with Josh.

"Oww... I didn't know my muscles would ache so much." he groaned as he almost tumbled from bed and turned to his friend.

"I know--it just hits you all of the sudden, before you even know you hurt." the amber haired boy shook his head.

"Well... ouch." the other spoke in a whine, leaning and grabbing his knees before finally straightening and hurrying down stairs to complete his mission.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Josh re-appeared through the door way within another ten minutes (two medium sized cups of liquid in hand) and found Drake sitting atop his bed, with his cell phone held to his ear and a very serious look on his face.

At first, the dark haired boy was worried something had happened at the hospital, but those fears mostly went away when he heard Drake's calm voice:

"Mrs. Prescott, whatever you think of me, I want you to know that I am more than sorry for what happened... and if I could have taken her place, I would."

Josh's face softened in understanding and he walked slowly over to the bed, all the while silently praying for her mother to have mercy on this innocent boy.

The voice came back clearly enough that both boys could hear it, and the weepy voice of the adult woman spoke kindly.

"Oh, Drake, Mister Prescott and I could never blame you for this. We are pained for our daughter, and we were very upset upon getting such horrible news. But... but our Anita will grow better every passing day. She will heal, and so will our hearts. As people living on this earth, bad things are going to happen, but lessons can be learned after it's all over with. So I thank _you,_ for doing all you could for her and being so kind and humble through this."

Drake was apparently more thankful and relieved than he had been last night with the last call, and he sighed: "I--I don't know what to say, Mrs. Prescott. You are much too kind to me, and--I don't want to sound stupid, but I think I'm gonn'a cry."

"Don't do that, Drake. I want you to know that you have our forgiveness even though you have done nothing wrong. ...But most importantly, I want you to get something straight in your head."

"What is that?" he choked back his emotions, hearing the solemn tone in these words.

"You must remember that you had no control over this, and that you are not one percent responsible for our daughter's situation. You're a good boy, Drake, and we thank you again."

Drake took the woman's words very carefully in to his mind and shook his head:

"No, _thank you. _You have made me more happy than I can say."

Josh set the soup on the ledge of the bed and climbed up as Drake and Mrs. Prescott said goodbye.

And after Drake had snapped his cell phone shut, Josh smiled and said: "You are a good boy. ...And she's right."

Drake looked up, blinking back the threatening sobs and finally after succeeding, he smiled and laughed: "This day is crazy."

A few minutes later after the two talked a little about the conversation on the phone and Drake explained that their mother had given Anita's mom his cell phone number so she could call and talk to him; Josh leaned down picking the mugs of soup up again and handing one of them to his brother, along with a spoon.

Sometimes when emotions are running high, it helps to have simple distractions.

"Oh wow, thanks, Josh. This smells delicious." Drake spoke, in a voice just over a hungry mumble, taking it and nodding an appreciative nod.

Josh was glad he didn't cry as he had last night, and answered cheerfully:

"Just good ol' chicken n' stars. ...A pretty weird little breakfast, but hey, it's a special day and I think that calls for weirdness."

And neither of them cared that it was soup for breakfast, because it was _any kind of food_ and the ache in their stomachs was gone by the time they finished.

The sun was just now all the way up, but the pink and orange clouds hadn't faded out completely yet, and the two boys set down their soup-bowls to look out at the window.

"How pretty it is out there... seriously." Josh sighed, just as the two slipped in to peace for the first time in weeks.

Quiet took over, apart from the growing song of early birds outside.

Drake and Josh were left to their own thoughts and actually didn't speak at all for probably almost ten minutes.

Drake was going over the whole longer ordeal in his mind and yet he saw how it all worked out well in the end. The thoughts he had of having to see Joe Parker again in court, and having to testify in front of so many scary people made him depressed and even a little sick, but he had to stop again and again to remind himself that he wouldn't have to do it alone. His Mom and Dad and especially Josh would be there to support him. ...And now even Anita and her parents were on his side.

At last, Drake sighed (for the thousandth time it seemed) and whispered: "It _is _alright... I didn't think it would ever be possible."

"Tell me what you mean."

"A lot of things. But mostly... it's not the end of the world. I'm so happy Anita's getting better and she doesn't hate me, her parents don't hate me and... Dad isn't going to be able to hurt anyone anymore. It's almost too much happiness to handle." Drake spoke, looking dreamily up at the clouds and leaning over to rest his arms on his knees.

"It's about time some happiness came your way, though, Drake, because you've had it rough for a long time. It's just time for you to feel okay again."

Drake turned his face to Josh and the difference the raven haired teen saw there was amazing.

His countenance was no longer white and sick-looking but alive and rosy. His most handsome smile was displayed on his lips and his posture no longer drooped.

But then Josh felt a thrill of joy pulse through himself...

His deep brown eyes held such a pretty twinkle that anyone would have noticed it, but to Josh who had missed that twinkle for days, it was like life had been restored to those dead eyes.

"You're the best, Josh. I know I said thanks before, but now I really mean it." the soft blue-grey light of a slightly storm-filled sky came through the window and made his face glow: "I can't think of where I'd be right now if you hadn't been there for me when you were. ...I know there will still be trials in court and I'll have to testify, but I can get through it as long as you're there."

"...Thanks Drake." a deep blush colored his own complexion and a peaceful roll of thunder was released in the distance: "But you know that I'm not the only one who has been brave lately. I mean… you fought him all by yourself. You must have been pretty scared."

"I was. But I had to—I couldn't just give up and let him get to you out there."

"Wait, that's why you did that?"

Drake flushed at his brother's discovery and looked down: "Um well, yeah… I guess at the time I just—"

Josh interrupted him by shaking his head and stopping his words with his own. "Apparently this whole little brother-thing has worked better than we thought it would, 'cause we seem to be ready to do just about any for each other."

Both were still for a minute, wondering if the other would move and finally with the release of a glad chuckle (perhaps if only to keep from crying), they both darted forward at the same time to grab him in a hug.

Gentle rain began to tap at the window and the storm-light flooded the room as Josh hugged his brother in his arms and he spoke in a quiet voice: "It's not over, but you've started to get better already. I always told you that you would make it."

"I didn't make it alone. ...I love ya, brother."

"I love you too, man."

"…_But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."_


	35. In the End

Wake up.

. . . It's time to get your things together,

and drive away.

Breathe out.

. . . Future days will treat you _better._

That's what they say.

another day.

gone without a sound . . .

. but it's _okay_

if you

**turn around**

. . . . . and feel the Memories

bringing you down.

And _In the **End,**_

**are you stronger?**

. . . Do you _no longer_

need to **recover?**

. . . where have you been

since it's been

**over.**

_over my shoulder,_

_. . . . . under my skin._

will you

**ever return **

. . . . . **there again?**

Wake up.

the **monsters**_in your head_

. . .have left you all to _yourself._

_it's _alright if

. . . .ugly little things remind you

of how it **felt**.

another day.

no one tells you what it means . . .

. what's in your _way,_

poison in

**your dreams.**

. . . . . the darkest place

that you've ever been.

And _In the **End,**_

**are you stronger?**

. . . Do you _no longer_

need to **recover?**

. . . where have you been

since it's been

**over.**

_over my shoulder,_

_. . . . . under my skin._

will you

**ever return **

. . . . . **there again?**

. . . In **the** **end**.


	36. Sing Me a Story

**Sing Me a Story – Song Soundtrack / Chapter Index**

**Chapter One—"Maple Syrup" **

Song: "Golden Days"

Artist: Drake Bell

Lyrics:

These are the Golden Days / in this Golden Age that we live in / I'll show you a thousand ways / I'll show you how we take what we're given. / Well, alright, yeah / You can say what you want, we don't need your permission / Because you're so busy talkin' that you don't even listen. / You can do what you want, you know that we don't mind. / You got the years, we got the time. / These are the Golden Days, in this Golden Age that we live in / I'll show you a thousand ways, I'll show you how we take what we're given. / You can say what you want, we don't need your permission / With all the things that you hide, how do we look suspicious/ Better look straight ahead, don't look over your shoulder / Because you'll wake up to find that we've taken over / These Are Golden Days.

--

**Chapter Two—"Caught in Cuffs"**

Song: "On the Ride"

Artist: Aly & AJ

Lyrics: 

We don't have to try / To think the same thoughts / We just have a way / Of knowing everything's gonna be ok / We'll laugh 'til we cry / Read each others minds / Live with a smile / Make it all worthwhile / Make it all worthwhile / Life has moments I could describe / Feeling great and feeling alive / Never coming down from this / Mountain we're on / Always knowing we're gonna be fine / Feeling great and feeling alive / Never coming down from this / Mountain were on / The feeling so clear / And it's crazy up here / Life is amazing with you on the ride / We don't wanna sleep / Just wanna stay up / There's so much to say / And not enough hours in the day / We try be lazy / The journey is perfect / The place is so crazy / The race is so worth it / I will be with you / We'll do this together / Always together / The feeling's so clear and it's crazy up here / Life is amazing with you on the ride / The place so is crazy / The race is so worth it / Life is amazing with you on the ride.

--

**Chapter Three—"One Last Day"**

Song: "Every Moment"

Artist: Joy Williams

Lyrics:

We laughed out loud 'til we cried and the tears were sweet / Midnight melted to morning / A moment faded to memory / All these days just slip away through our fingers. / So don't let go / Hold onto every moment / Always know / Hold on to every moment that you can. / All these days, they slip away through our fingers so-- / Running through yesterday into tomorrow / Don't let it just drift away / Forget about tying the hands of time / Live every minute thankful that you're given today. / Every moment.

--

**Chapter Four—"We're Brothers"**

Song: "Protecting Me"

Artist: Aly & AJ

Lyrics:

You, you're always there for me / When I need you most / Day and night you're by my side / Protecting me / When I feel like crashing down / You seem to be around / There you are / You're not that far cause /

Whenever, where ever / You'll protect me / No matter what / You hold me hand / You'll understand / And you will never let me go / Protecting me, Protecting me / You, you listen to me when / I speak out loud and you / You know right when / My hearts been bent / When my life's tumbling around / You take me off the ground / You tell me everythings ok / When it's my turn / To help you out / I'll gladly lift you up / Without a doubt / Whenever, where ever / I'll protect you / No matter what / I'll hold your hand / I'll understand / And I will never let you go, let you go / You, you're always there for me / When I need you most / Day and night you're by my side -- Protecting me.

--

**Chapter Five—"It Goes Deeper Than You Think"**

Song: "In A Second"

Artist: Aly & AJ

Lyrics:

Don't know where you are / Wish I just could be near you / I would sail oceans / To get a glimpse of how you feel / You're all the things I'm looking for / Everything and so much more / What I think --You are just perfect / Could it be-- That I am worth it/ Is this thing an open door, walk right through to something more / You and me / My life can change in a second, In a second. / Don't know how you feel / You seem to keep it to yourself / Would you climb mountains / To show me this is something real// You're all the things I'm looking for / Everything and so much more. / Could it be, Could it be, You and me, You and me, Do I see, Do I see… Clearly/// My life can change in a second / In a second.

--

**Chapter Six—"A Guitar Is A Teen's Best Friend"**

Song: "Ain't Misbehavin"

Artist: Ella Fitzgerald

Lyrics:

No one to talk with / All by myself / No one to walk with / But I'm happy on the shelf / Ain't misbehavin' / I'm savin' my love for you / I know for certain / The one I love / I'm through with flirtin' / It's just you I'm thinkin' of / Ain't misbehavin' / I'm savin' my love for you. / Like Jack Horner / in the corner / don't go nowhere / what do I care/ Your kisses are worth waitin' for / Believe me. / I don't stay out late / Don't care to go / I'm home about eight / Just me and my radio / Ain't misbehavin' / Savin' my love for you. / Your kisses are worth waitin' for, Believe me.

--

**Chapter Seven—"Pick You Up When You're Down"**

Song: "I Found a Way"

Artist: Drake Bell

Lyrics:

I never thought that it'd be so simple but / I found a way, I found a way / I always thought that it'd be too crazy but / I found a way, I found a way / If you open up your mind, See what's inside / It's gonna take some time, to realize / But if you look inside, I'm sure you'll find / Over your shoulder you know that, I told you / I'll always be pickin' you up when you're down / So just turn around. / Now that I know that anything's possible / I found a way, I found a way / No one can break what is so unbreakable / I found a way, I found a way. / No one cares / What you give / You know you gotta live like you wanna live / When it's time / To be free / You know you gotta be what you wanna be. / Over your shoulder you know that I told you / I'll always be pickin' you up when you're down / So just turn around.

--

**Chapter Eight—"Poison In Your Dreams"**

Song: "Go Away"

Artist: Fist Raised

Lyrics:

Your egos steppin on my toes. / Never been this close to sin even though I don't believe in symbols / You have to answer for yourself. / Hate combined with ignorance makes one furious. / Go away. Cause We don't like you. Full of lies and so are your friends too. / What I mean this time You'll never understand / Been together this long this will never end / And you're so brave behind your friends. Insecure and lost creating all the loose ends / And you're so brave behind your friends / Standing in the middle of the loose ends / Answering for yourself in every single way / I don't care about what you say.

--

**Chapter Nine—"Down We Fall"**

Song: "Down We Fall"

Artist: Drake Bell

Lyrics:

You are so clever / You kept it together today. / By the way / I'll no longer ignore you / I wanted to show you again / I'm your friend. / Sometimes, We Just Pretend. / All I can say is you saved me / Changed all the things that have made me. / Entertaining thoughts are raining… Down We Fall. / It's all OK. / When I say… You and I. / Take your time, I can't wait to see you fly. / You don't have to wonder. / I finally discovered, tonight— We were right. / This is just the beginning. / That's all that I'm trying to say. / If I may— You're never in my way. / Entertaining thoughts are raining… Down We Fall. / It's okay when I say: You and I. / Take your time, I can't wait / To see you fly. / You saved me / Changed all the things that have made me. / Thoughts are raining… Entertaining thoughts are raining… / Thoughts are raining… Down We Fall.

--

**Chapter Ten—"Spawning Storm"**

Song: "Scream"

Artist: ZOEgirl

Lyrics:

Does anybody know how I feel/ Sometimes I'm numb, sometimes I'm overcome / Does anybody care what's going on/ Do I have to wear my scars like a badge on my arm / For you to see me, I need release. / Do I have to scream for you to hear me/ Do I have to bleed for you to see me/ 'Cause I grieve, you're not listening to me / Do I need to scream/// Has anybody seen what's been done/ Where was my defense/ No one heard my protest. / The eyes of God were watching me / It's time to make my peace, let it go and be released / So I can breathe again / I'm on my knees / I've been marked, set apart / But I'm cut so deep and afraid of the dark / One drop of blood from the hole in Your hand / Is enough to heal me and make me stand. / 'Cause I'm clean, He is listening to me. / I don't have to scream for Him to hear me / Don't have to bleed for Him to see me / 'Cause I'm clean, He is listening to me / I don't have to scream / I don't have to bleed / 'Cause I'm clean, He is listening / And I don't have to scream.

--

**Chapter Eleven—"Soccer On The Brain"**

Song: "Just Fly Away"

Artist: Raven Symone

Lyrics:

Whenever the sun doesn't shine your way / If ever the clouds in your sky turn gray / If ever your money all ran dry / And all your friends just passed you by / If ever your life is in dismay / And leave you confused, in so much pain / Whenever you feel so all alone / There is a place you can call your own. / Just fly away / Soar beyond all your troubles / Cast all your cares away / Just fly away / Into the arms of love / Don't be afraid / Under the wings of mercy / You'll never be let down / Don't run away / Believing that you could survive / I'll be right by your side. / If you ever need a hug from me / Because you've been crying down on your knees / If you ever need a place to stay / Call and ask me and I'll be on my way / I know you're tried of being let down / Your so-called friends don't come around / I'll be a friend you can call / I will be right there, to catch you when you fall. / You can't do this on your own / Life's not meant for us to live alone / There's no need to be in fear / Dry your eyes and let me wipe your tears / We've all seen some better days / Times get hard and some lose faith / Believe in me and what we share / No matter what I'll always be right there. / Just Fly Away.

--

**Chapter Twelve—"Hang On"**

Song: "Hang On To Me"

Artist: Fred Astaire

Lyrics:

Trouble may hound us, Shadows surround us / Never mind, no fear. / Don't be down hearted, when we get started / They will disappear. / Listen to brother / While we've each other / There's no pain, I hear / For like peas in a pod / We will prove it's not hard. / If you hang on to me / While I hang on to you / We'll find our way to the sunshine / Out of the rain / Forever and a day. / That's right, hold tight / We're on our way / It's clear, It's clear / We'll loose the shadows. / If you'll hang on to me / While I hang on to you / We'll find our way to the sunshine / Out of the rain. / If you'll just simply hang on to me. / Hang on to me. / While I hang on tight to you. / To you. / We'll loose the shadows, And find our way / Forever and a day.

--

**Chapter Thirteen—"Getting Critical"**

Song: "Never Far Behind"

Artist: Aly & AJ

Lyrics:

I know this really isn't you / I know your heart is somewhere else / I'll do anything I can / To help you break out of this spell. / I see you following the crowd / I know you're trying to fit in / But if you're gonna find yourself / You gotta start from deep, deep within. / Hold on to what you believe. / I will always be your friend / I know who you are inside / I am with you till the end / Never far behind / I am standing in the distance / You can take your time / And I will be here waiting / Never far behind / Yeah, never far behind. /

I am sending you a message / Don't ever think that it's too late / When you care about someone / There is always room for change / You're allowed to make mistakes / It's a part of every life / I don't see you any different / The truth is shining in your eyes. / You can take your time and I know with all my heart… / I will always be your friend / I know who you are inside / I am with you till the end / Never far behind

I am standing in the distance (in the distance) / You can take your time / And I will be here waiting / Never Far Behind, Never Far Behind. / I am sending you a message.

--

**Chapter Fourteen—"Girl Fight"**

Song: "Like a Mirror"

Artist: Morgan May

Lyrics:

I've been with him for almost a while / He's confessed to me I'm quite his style / That I'm all that he's been looking for / That I may be his date, but I'm so much more. / I don't understand how you don't understand / He's been mine for a long long while / I'm not a black hole and I'm not dead - end / And just to let you know, I didn't steal your boyfriend. / You just reflect what you see / Like a mirror, from you to me / You want him so / Make it look as if I hate you / And now I'm beginning to. / As far as I know a couple means two / And the two are him and I / Not him and you / He loves me with his heart / And not just his head / But now you believe you're in his heart instead. / I can't help but begin to feel resent / For this signal that you have sent / I can tell you want him to be more than a friend / But in the end, I'm the girl who will win. / Like a mirror.

--

**Chapter Fifteen—"Dead Laughter"**

Song: "Forever Seventeen"

Artist: ZOEgirl

Lyrics:

Never thought it would be me / Living in a shattered dream / How could this be the end for me/ What I wouldn't give to have / A life to live, a day to plan / Instead I'll be forever seventeen / Could have lived out every dream / I could have been most anything / Can someone wake me up/ I haven't lived yet / I'm only seventeen / God, did you forget/ I'm just a baby / And I don't wanna be / Forever seventeen / I'll never have a bed to make / A test to take, a summer day / I'll always be forever seventeen / I could have had a family / If things had worked out differently / Instead I'll be forever seventeen. / Could I have just one more day / A chance to learn from my mistakes / Can someone wake me up/ I haven't lived yet / I'm only seventeen / God, did you forget/ I'm just a baby / And I don't wanna be / Forever seventeen. / In a matter of a moment / Life fell before my eyes / And now I'm looking at the meaning of / The miracle of life / Where are we going without even knowing / The answers deep inside / Someone wake me up… I haven't lived yet. / Forever seventeen. / So don't give up / You haven't lived yet / You're only seventeen / And God did not forget / You're just a baby.

--

**Chapter Sixteen—"Spot of Light"**

Song: "Suddenly"

Artist: ZOEgirl

Lyrics:

Solo, lonely and afraid / Hold on, something's bound to break / Falling down, running from the Promised Land / Midnight, and I'm still awake / Don't feel right, haven't slept for days / I'm so tired / My thoughts are getting weak / And I'm wired, can I get some peace/// Suddenly you are here with me / Finding a reason to believe / I know you'll be here to the end of time / And when the night falls all around / My frightened heart the only sound / I know you'll be here to the end of time. / Maybe it was my mistakes / That kept on pulling me away / I was still living yesterday / Can't imagine life without your hand in mine / I can't believe I've lived this long without you / I know that You will find a purpose for my life / Beyond my wildest dreams / Beyond what I can see / Suddenly you're here and I'm not alone anymore / When the night falls 'round / I am not alone anymore.

--

**Chapter Seventeen—"Within The Box"**

Song: "Living in a Box"

Artist: Living in a Box

Lyrics:

Woke up this morning / Closed in on all sides / Nothing doing / I feel resistance / As I open my eyes / Someone's fooling / I've found a way to break / Through this cellophane line / Cause I know what's going on / In my own mind. / Am I living in a box / Am I living in a cardboard box / Am I living in a box / Am I living in a cardboard box / Am I living in a box / Life goes in circles / Around and around circulation / I sometimes wonder / What's moving underground / I'm escaping / I've found a way / I've found a way / Am I living in a cardboard box / Am I living in a box (living) / Am I living in a cardboard box / Am I living in a box (living) / Am I living in a cardboard box / Am I living in a box (living) / Am I living in a cardboard box / I am living in a box.

--

**Chapter Eighteen—"Unexpected Blow"**

Song: "He's Raining in my Sunshine"

Artist: Jay and the Americans

Lyrics:

See the raindrops falling, hear them fall so loud / Once I stood in sunlight; now darkness is my shroud / Rain never ever seemed to bother me / Trouble never came my way / The light of her love always followed me / Till her new love turned my world to gray / Now he's raining in my sunshine, clouding up my sky / Yes he's raining in my sunshine / Come between her and I. / All at once he's taken everything that's mine / Now he stands beside her, he walks in my sunshine / Why did he have to go and steal my love/ Why did he take her away/ She was the only thing I had in life / She was my sunny day. / Now he's raining on my sunshine, clouding up my sky.

--

**Chapter Nineteen—"Face to Face"**

Song: "Walking on Sunshine"

Artist: Aly & AJ

Lyrics:

I used to think maybe you loved me, now baby I'm sure / And I just can't wait till the day when you knock on the door, yeah / Now every time I go for the mailbox, gotta hold myself down / 'Cause I just can't wait till you write me you're comin' around. / I'm walkin' on sunshine, whoa / I'm walkin' on sunshine, whoa / I'm walkin' on sunshine, whoa / And don't it feel good / Hey! Oh, right now / And don't it feel good / Hey! Oh, right now, yeah / I used to think maybe you loved me, now I know that it's true / And I don't wanna spend all of my life just waitin' for you / Just waitin' for you / Now I don't want you back for the weekend, not back for a day, no, no, no / See, baby I just want you back and I want you to stay / Walkin' on sunshine / Walkin' on sunshine / I feel the love, I feel the love, I feel the love, it's really real / I feel the love, I feel the love, I feel the love, it's really real / I'm on sunshine, baby, yeah / I'm on sunshine, baby, yeah / I'm walkin' on sunshine.

--

**Chapter Twenty—"In the Dark"**

Song: "Wait"

Artist: ZOEgirl

Lyrics:

You've been hurt / You've been lied to / You ran all your life / Just to get out of your shoes / But you settled in too soon / Now your road is clear-ly dark, no room / For any light to break through. / You're on a mission to get even with the world / To give back all the pain you received / It's just too hard to believe / That anything can make it better. / Please don't let it end this way / You could wait another day / It's foolish games that players play / One choice can bring you so much ache / Please don't end up this way / There's got to be some other way / You could live without this mistake / So please wait. / You've been betrayed / Left so confused / Couldn't understand / How trust could be so abused / So you let the darkness / Come over you / Now you dont know / Anyone to turn to. / You're beat up and bitter / Face down in the cold / Lying on the ground with footprints on your back / Where ya gonna go/ You've never been so low. / There's got to be some other way / You could live without this mistake / So please wait.

--

**Chapter Twenty-One—"Secrets No More"**

Song: "Secrets"

Artist: Anastacia

Lyrics:

Late in September / Memories I can't erase / The shiver through autumn / The memory of your face / As I grew much older / I wonder whatever I could have done / To fight all the madness / When I close my eyes. / Find truth in what I'm saying / They thought it was all a lie / How could they deny it when I was just a

little child / Secrets I kept inside me / No one can understand / Secrets I had to hide / Because no one would hold my hand when / Secrets for me to know / And never for you to see / Secrets for only me. / Emotions so bother my soul / To know that I felt such pain / I thought it would go far away / It did for the moment / Find truth in what I'm saying / They thought it was all a lie / How could they deny it when I was just a child / Come on now. / The ones that could not escape the pain and misery / Would no one ever set them free/ Why do you pretend to see / All the pain they had to go through / Can't you hear them cry to you/// Secrets for only me… secrets. / Secrets / I know / There's nobody in here / that can hear the cries hear / Inside my mind / But I cry.

--

**Chapter Twenty-Two—"A Fight for the Soul"**

Song: "No You"

Artist: ZOEgirl

Lyrics:

Feelin' so crazy lately / When it seems that you're not around / the sun and the moon shine bright /

But all I need is you right now. / Don't know how I'd live with out you / I don't remember how it used to feel /

I can't imagine if I had no you to help me. / where would I go with no you to run to / No You to hold me when I am afraid/ Who would I be with no you beside me/ I oughtta know it by now without You there's no me / There's no me / When I need You, You're always here / To play through the laughter / Love through the tears / And when my heart seems so far away / Right by your side is where I wanna stay / I try to find the words to tell you / All the things my heart's been telling me / I don't wanna know how it feels to have no You to love me / Where would I go with no You to run to/ No you to hold me when I am afraid/ Where would I be with no you beside me/ I oughtta know it by now without you there's no me. / without you there's no me.

--

**Chapter Twenty-Three—"When No One Was Looking"**

Song: "You Found Me"

Artist: Kelly Clarkson

Lyrics:

Is this a dream / If it is, please don't wake me from this high. / I'd become comfortably numb / until you opened up my eyes / to what it's like / When everything's right. / I can't believe. / You found me / When no one else was looking / How did you know just where I would be / Yeah, you broke through all of my confusion / The ups and the downs / And you still didn't leave / I guess that you saw what nobody could see / You found me. / So here we are / And that's pretty far / When you think of where we've been / No going back, I'm fading out / All that has faded me within / You're by my side / Now everything's fine. / And I was hiding / Till you came along / and showed me where I belong / you found me. / I guess that you saw what nobody could see / the good and the bad / and the things in between / you found me.

--

**Chapter Twenty-Four—"Screaming For You"**

Song: "Addicted"

Artist: Morgan May

Lyrics:

It's like you're a drug / It's like you're a demon I can't face down / It's like I'm stuck / It's like I'm running from you all the time / And I know I let you have all the power / It's like the only company I seek is misery all around / It's like you're a leech / Sucking the life from me / It's like I can't breathe / Without your voice inside me / And I know I let you have all the power / And I realize it's gonna be hard to quit you overtime / It's like I can't breathe / It's like I can't see anything / Nothing but you / I'm addicted to you / It's like I can't think / Without you interrupting me / In my thoughts, in my dreams / You've taken over me / It's like I'm not me / It's like I'm not me / It's like I'm lost / It's like I'm giving up slowly / It's like you're a ghost that's haunting me / Leave me alone / And I know these voices in my head are yours alone / And I know I'll never change my ways / If I don't give you a "no" / It's like I'm not me / It's like I'm not me.

--

**Chapter Twenty-Five—"Threatened Existence"**

Song: "Racing Against Time"

Artist: Missing Persons

Lyrics:

Plotting, planning, preaching, panning / causing diversion for the pass under the table / Who to know, what to show, where to go / when to blow, be wise to sleep with one eye open if you're able / Running in, running out, running over / you're in doubt, running on a line in a circle 'neath a net / Getting upset , wanting to forget,

everything's a threat, feeling something wet, who said it's no sweat/// Racing against time, it's all I do, racing against time / I don't like to / The clock keeps ticking, pieces of my life go slipping by / I'm pushing forward, moving backward, and I don't know why / The pressure's building, pressure's making it impossible /

Before you know it it's completely uncontrollable / Wheeling, dealing, stealing, squealing / does this kind of life look interesting to you// Modify, amplify, simplify, intensify / it could be quite confusing just to watch me do what I do. / It's like I'm living in a situation comedy / they've got me socializing with these absent entities / Even when I'm reasoning in slow decaying orbits / public opinion isn't fast enough to grasp it / Racing against time, it's all I do, racing against time / I don't like to / racing against time / I don't like to.

--

**Chapter Twenty-Six—"Collapsed"**

Song: "Collapsed"

Artist: Aly & AJ

Lyrics:

You were the one / That I couldn't find / Hidden away / In the depths of my mind / Why did I let you go / You're too good to be true / I messed it up / And now I don't know what to do / We ran in circles / And wasted time / From right to wrong / From right to wrong. / If I knew that you were mine / Then I wouldn't have wasted time / I wish I could erase the past / Now it's all collapsed in my lap. / I over thought / So locked in my heart, yeah / There you stand / Your blue eyes hidden underneath your hood / Why did I let you go / You're too good to be true / I messed it up / And now I don't know what to do / We ran in circles / And wasted time / From right to wrong / From right to wrong. / My mind is blank / Just like a clean slate / Will I meet another girl / And the same name / With the Converse shoes I gave / Will she have the same laugh/ Wear that cute little hat / Bet I'll make another mistake / And think she's just another fake / Wish I could erase the past / I wish I could bring you back / Now it's all collapsed in my lap.

--

**Chapter Twenty-Seven—"Broken Glass"**

Song: "Because of You"

Artist: Kelly Clarkson

Lyrics:

I will not make the same mistakes that you did / I will not let myself cause my heart so much misery / I will not break the way you did / You fell so hard / I've learned the hard way, to never let it get that far / Because of you / I never stray too far from the sidewalk / Because of you / I learned to play on the safe side / So I don't get hurt / Because of you / I find it hard to trust / Not only me, but everyone around me / Because of you / I am afraid / I lose my way / And it's not too long before you point it out / I cannot cry because I know that's weakness in your eyes / I'm forced to fake, a smile, a laugh / Every day of my life / My heart can't possibly break / When it wasn't even whole to start with / I watched you die / I heard you cry / Every night in your sleep / I was so young / You should have known better than to lean on me / You never thought of anyone else / You just saw your pain / And now I cry

In the middle of the night / For the same thing / Because of you / I never stray too far from the sidewalk / Because of you / I learned to play on the safe side / So I don't get hurt / Because of you / I tried my hardest just to forget everything / Because of you / I don't know how to let anyone else in / Because of you / I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty / Because of you / I am afraid / Because of you / Because of you.

--

**Chapter Twenty-Eight—"Nowhere"**

Song: "Highway to Nowhere"

Artist: Drake Bell

Lyrics:

I'm tired of all your excuses. / I'm tired of all your lies. / Your filthy schemes & abuses. / Now I've finally grown wise. / I got tired of chasing it down. / Maybe it's better if I'm not around. / 'Cause I'm on a Highway to Nowhere / Trying to get high with out you. / And I don't know why it took me so long to… / Wind up back at nowhere with you. / I'll wind up back at nowhere with you. / Wind up. / Back at Nowhere. / Wind up back at Nowhere with you. / It's time for a little payback. / It's time for a little respect. / You can't just rewind & playback / All of the stuff that you wrecked. / 'Cause I'm on a Highway to Nowhere / Trying to get high with out you. / And I don't know why it took me so long to… / Wind up back at nowhere with you. / I'll wind up back at nowhere with you. / Wind up back at nowhere / Wind up back at nowhere with you. / I'm on a Highway to Nowhere / Trying to get high with out you. / And I don't know why it took me so long to… / Wind up back at nowhere with you / Wind up back at nowhere with you, oh. / Wind up back at nowhere with you. / Oh yeah / Wind up back at nowhere / Wind up back at nowhere with you / Wind up back at nowhere with you. / Wind up. / Back at nowhere. / With you.

--

**Chapter Twenty-Nine—"Breathe Out"**

Song: "Porcelain Heart"

Artist: Barlow Girl

Lyrics:

Broken heart / One more time / Pick yourself up / Why even cry / Broken Pieces in your hands / Wonder how you'll make it whole / You know / You pray / This can't be the way / You cry / You say / Something's gott'a change / And Mend this Porcelain heart / Of Mine. / Some one said / A broken heart / Would sting at first / Then make you stronger / You wonder why this / Pain remains / Were hearts made whole / Just to break/// You know / You pray / This can't be the way / You cry / You say / Something's gott'a change / And mend this Porcelain heart / Of mine. / Something's gott'a change / And mend this Porcelain heart / Please, mend this porcelain heart / Of mine.

--

**Chapter Thirty—"Angel"**

Song: "Angel in my Heart"

Artist: Jump5

Lyrics:

I heard a whisper that touched deep inside my soul / Like some familiar melody / A hidden chapter from a story left untold / I gotta feeling, I could believe in / There is an angel in my heart / Feels like I'm guided by a candle in the dark / It's taken all this time / To finally find out what I could never see / You were there for me / Now there is no doubt that there will always be / An angel in my heart / You were the friend, you were the one I could confide in / You gave me strength that I could never find / Deep emotions that I've always been denying / I believe in, it's so close now, it's you that / I'm feeling / Finally found / What I've been searching for / All my life / It was right before my eyes / Oh, you are my angel / I know you'll always be there / You are my one and only angel / To finally find what I could never see / You were there for me / Now there is no doubt that there will always be / An angel in my heart.

**--**

**Chapter Thirty-One—"Explanations and Expeditions"**

Song: "Lean On Me"

Artist: Bill Withers

Lyrics:

Sometimes in our lives / we all have pain / we all have sorrow / but if we are wise / we know that there's always tomorrow / Lean on me / When you're not strong / and I'll be your friend / I'll help you carry on

for it won't be long / 'till I'm gonna need / somebody to lean on / Please swallow your pride / if I have things / you need to borrow / for no one can fill those of your needs / that you wont let show / Just call on me brother / when you need a hand / we all need somebody to lean on / I just might have a problem that you'll understand / we all need somebody to lean on. / If there is a load / you have to bear, that you can't carry / I'm right up the road / I'll share your load / if you just call me / Won't you just call me?

--

**Chapter Thirty-Two—"This Is Our Time"**

Song: "This Is My Time"

Artist: Raven Symone

Lyrics:

At times I felt like I had lost myself / Cause people try to make you someone else / I had to learn to trust my heart so / Things can change / I came to a point where i could speak my mind / And not feel I'm living in a box and keep the one I am concealed / I finally found the strength so i can leave it that all behind / This is my time to shine / This is my place to find all that I have inside, I never knew / This is my time to show / What i must have always known, that nothings impossible / And dreams come true / Everybody's got the strength inside all it takes is time to realize / That you and only you can be the one to decide / I can I will I know that everything I want I can do believing in myself / That every wish I make will come true / I took a while to get this far but I'm here now / Overcoming all these things / Here i finally found my wings / Now I know I'm ready to fly / This my time.

--

**Chapter Thirty-Three—"Closer than a Brother"**

Song: "In the End"

Artist: Drake Bell

Lyrics:

Wake up / It's time to get your things together / And drive away / Breathe out / Future days will treat you better / That's what they say / Another day / Gone without a sound / But it's okay / If you turn around / And feel the memories bringing you down / And in the end / Are you stronger / Do you no longer / Need to recover / And where have you been / Since it's been over / Over my shoulder / Under my skin / Will you ever return again/// Wake up / The monsters in your head have left you / All to yourself / It's alright / If ugly little things remind you / Of how it felt / Another day / No one tells you what it means / What's in your way / And poisoning your dreams / The darkest place that you've ever been / And in the end / Are you stronger / Do you no longer / Need to recover / And where have you been / Since it's been over / Over my shoulder / Under my skin / Will you ever return again/// And in the End…


End file.
